Stray Bullet kills Nigerian journalist covering clashes | General news

In Nigeria, Precious Owolabi, a 23-year-old trainee journalist, is now dead after being hit by a stray bullet during clashes between members of a pro-Iranian Shiite group and security forces in the country. capital, Abuja.

Usman Umar, deputy police commissioner, was also killed.

The pro-Iranian Islamic Movement for Nigeria (IMN) claims that at least 11 of their members were killed in the violence, while dozens of others were injured. The authorities did not take stock, except for declaring that one of their officers had been killed.

Hundreds of Shia group followers were on the streets to demand the release of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, in detention since 2015.

Owolabi was covering the clashes at Channels National Television, where he was working as part of his national service – a mandatory one-year program for graduates in Nigeria.

The situation is now quieter in Abuja, but hostility between the authorities and the members of NMI has still not been resolved, the group promising to continue demonstrating in the streets until the end of the day. the release of his leader.

He was arrested four years ago as a result of a military crackdown in which more than 300 members of the NMI were killed, according to human rights groups .

The Nigerian authorities have been criticized for not taking into account the court decisions made following his release.