Lawyers petition US embassy, insist IMN is threat to peace in Nigeria

A group of legal practitioners in the country, under the aegis of Lawyers Initiative For Civil Rights Advancement in Nigeria, has petitioned the United States Embassy in Nigeria, alerting it of the imminent security threat posed by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN.

Shiites

The group, in the letter it addressed to the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, insisted that members of the IMN, otherwise known as Shiite sect, had posed several security threat not just to Nigeria, but also to other west African countries.

The letter, which was signed by LICRAN Director of Research & Advocacy, Mr. Unande Terrace, yesterday, described the IMN as an Iranian-backed rebel group.

Tersagh, who described LICRAN as an umbrella body of pro-democracy lawyers dedicated to the advancement of civil rights, justice, equality and rule of law in Nigeria, said it was within public domain that the Islamic Republic of Iran had been harassing Nigeria using members of the IMN.

According to the group, buoyed by Iran backing, IMN members, in October and early November this year, unleashed violence across several Nigerian cities in the north under the cover of Ashura procession.

It said activities of the sect had led to several deaths in Sokoto, Kano, Kaduna and Katsina states, adding that members of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps were previously named in illegal shipment of weapons into Nigeria.

“There have also been reports that the IMN members visit Iran under the cover of academic scholarships to be trained as terrorists by the same Revolutionary Guards Corps.

‘’This will be consistent with recent revelations by Salar Abnoush, Deputy Commander of Iran’s Khatam-al-Anbia Garrison, a branch of the Revolutionary Guards Corps that his country is sending out sleeper cell assets to infiltrate other nations,” the group said.

LICRAN urged the ambassador to prevail on the US government to declare the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, as a terror organization.