At least two personnel of the Nigeria Police and some members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) were on Wednesday injured in Kaduna during a protest that resulted in a bloody clash.

Trouble started when the IMN members also known as Shiites were protesting the continued detention of their leader, Shiekh Ibraheem El- Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat when the police and other security operatives tried to disperse them.

The Shiites members, mostly women and children, in their hundreds had stormed the busy Ahmadu Bello Way and Lagos Street Roundabout in the heart of Kaduna city, carrying placards that demanded El-Zakzaky’s immediate release.

Vehicular movement through the affected roads were disrupted as the Shiite members took over the roads, forcing motorists to divert to alternative routes.

Reports say the Police, in a bid to disperse the protesters fired teargas but the Shiite members allegedly responded by attacking the police, injuring  two officers during the fracas that ensued.

Confirming the incident, the spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Aliyu
Muktar said the policemen sustained various degrees of injuries and were taken to the hospital while some of the protesting members of the group were arrested.

“The Shiites in their usual procession came with many women and children and blocked the major road in the city and denying other citizens their right to use the road.

“But this time around, they came fully armed. Two of our men were critically injured and they are now receiving treatment at a hospital here in Kaduna. But I don’t know if there is any causality on their part.

“As I speak with you, we have been able to disperse them and brought the situation under control. The police will not condone any form of lawlessness in the state,” Mukhtar said.

The Shiite leader and his wife had been in detention since December 2015 following a clash between his members and the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna State.

Members of the Islamic group have been staging several protests in some northern cities and Abuja to demand the release of their leader.