The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu has stated that Nigerians are free to be Shiites but not members of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN).
The police boss is in the United Kingdom where he is a member of the federal government’s delegation which met with legal experts and visited some international media outlets in London over the $9.6bn case with Process and Industrial Development (P&ID).
Making a clarification in an interview with newsmen, IGP Adamu stated that not all Shiites are targeted.
Acccording to him, only IMN members who he described as terrorists are targeted as they do not recognise the Nigerian constitution, constituted authority and government in general.
He said: “No, it’s not every Shiite that is targeted. There is an organisation called the Islamic Movement in Nigeria. That’s the organisation that has been proscribed.
“So, if you’re a member, you’re a terrorist; you denounce being a member of the organisation, behave well and recognise the government, because they don’t recognise our constitution, they don’t recognise constituted authority.
“In as much as you don’t recognise our government and you don’t recognise our constitution and you are a member of that movement, you’re a terrorist. And if you come out to protest or to disrupt the peace of everybody, we treat you as a terrorist.”
When asked about the fate of Nigerians who come out as Shiites and not IMN members, he said:
“If they come out as Shiites, they’re free, but not as IMN members. You know in the country, we have Shiites who are not members of the IMN.
If you remember, during the Ashura period, we made a pronouncement that Shiites were allowed to come out to participate and mark the event, but not as members of the IMN, and that’s very clear enough.”
