By CLIFFORD AMAKU
ABUJA – Three members of a Christian family resident in the outskirts of Abuja have been reportedly killed and their home burnt for alleged acts of homosexuality.
The NIGERIAN OBSERVER learnt that the victims simply identified as Mr Ekekhomen, his wife Mary and one of their son were brutally murdered by a group of youths believed to be members of the Shiite Muslim sect in Nigeria.The attackers were alleged to have launched what has been described as ” a holy war against persons suspected to be homosexuals.”
Sources say the youths armed with lethal weapons , stormed the home of the Ekekhomens in the Gwagwalada area of Abuja, chanting “down with the infidels.”
Our sources further revealed that one of the Shiite member believed to be the group’s leader had demanded that the late Mr Ekekhomen bring out one of sons whom he alleged is ” a homosexual polluting the community.”
It was however not clear if the prime suspect was among the victims of the sectarian attack on the home of the Christian family.
Tensions were high in the capital Abuja after police clamped down on a demonstration by an Islamic group.
Members of the Shiite group are demanding the immediate and unconditional release of their spiritual leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky from prison. The fiery Islamic cleric had been detained since December 2015 on charges including terrorism.
Police spokesman Frank Mba told journalists that the demonstrators “indiscriminately and violently attacked innocent citizens and policemen, and then embarked on a spree of destruction to both public and private property .”
The IMN is the most widely known Shia group in Nigeria where the Muslim population is, however, mainly Sunni.
Zakzaky founded the IMN in the late 1970s. It was originally a student movement inspired by the Islamic revolution in Iran. Zakzaky convinced fellow students that an Islamic revolution was possible in Nigeria, too. The group’s first reported march in Nigeria in 1980 was in support of Iran after a joint US-Canadian operation to save US diplomats trapped in Tehran in 1979.
Over the past years, the country has seen frequent clashes between the security forces and IMN followers during protests and religious processions. Nigeria’s government has accused the IMN, which claims to have several million members, of supporting militancy and aiming to undermine the state.
However, the brutal killing of the Christian family is seen as a dangerous dimension in the group’s quest for religious freedom.
Some Christian leaders in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, were said to have launched a formal complain with the police over the attack and killing of three members of theEkekhomen family.
