*Pix above: Ashura procession
PLEASE SHARE
The Court of Appeal sitting in Sokoto has ordered the Nigerian Police to pay N80 million as compensation to the families of four people killed by the police during the Ashura mourning procession in Sokoto.
Recall that police officers on August, 19, 2021, attacked a commemorative Ashura mourning procession in Sokoto, killing four people and wounding a dozen others.
The annual mourning procession was organised by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria under the leadership of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky.
The mourners were commemorating Ashura — marking the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shia Imam and grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the Karbala tragedy.
A Federal High Court in Sokoto had earlier delivered a judgement on the case, which the Shia community in the state were dissatisfied with, and therefore appealed it.
The Court of Appeal lead judgement, read by Justice Mohammed Danjuma on Monday, described the killing of the Ashura mourners as deliberate, wanton, inhuman and unlawful.
The court, therefore, ordered the respondents in the case (Nigerian Police) to pay N10 million as compensation to each of the families of the deceased.
It also ordered the police to pay N2 million as compensation to the three other mourners that sustained gunshot injuries during the attack.
The appellate court also ordered the police to pay another N30 million to the Shi’a community in Sokoto state./PLEASE SHARE
