ABUJA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Casualties were feared on Monday as violent protesters clashed with local police in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, several local sources said.
The radical protesters, who are members of the Islamic Movement, also known as Shi'ites Movement, marching for the release of their detained leader, stormed a major road in Abuja, burning down a sub-station of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) located near the government secretariat in the Abuja city center.
Two vehicles of NEMA, which is the country's main disaster management agency, were also burned during the violent protest, a police officer told Xinhua.
The Shi'ites Movement had been demanding for the release for Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, their spiritual leader, and his wife.
The march on Monday turned violent as the police formed human and vehicular barricades to prevent the raging protesters from attacking nearby public buildings, said police sources.
Witnesses said up to four corpses littered the location of the clash. The local Channels Television said one of his reporters was shot during the clash.
It was alleged that the protesters targeted some government buildings during their violent march.
"The protesters carried petrol bombs and threatened to burn down the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Then, they looked toward our facility nearby and burned it," a NEMA official told Xinhua.
Gunshots were heard around the Eagle Square in the city center, as motorists abandoned their vehicles on the road and workers within the axis scampered for safety.
National police spokesman Frank Mba confirmed the melee, urging citizens to remain calm and avoid the affected areas in the interim.
"There is a violent protest currently ongoing by members of the El-Zakzakky Group in some parts of the FCT (Federal Capital Territory) -- particularly the Central Business District and the Three Arms Zone. The Police are taking adequate measures to bring the situation under control," Mba said in a terse statement.
On July 9, police authorities said 40 protesters were nabbed after an invasion of the national parliament by members of the Shi'ites Movement.
During that violent march, the protesters shot two police personnel on the leg, while clubs and stones were used to inflict injuries on six other policemen in a clash with security operatives after forcing their way through the main entrance and headed to the parliament building.
Last week, local police had restricted all protests in Abuja following incessant clashes between the Shi'ites Movement and security agencies.
Earlier on Monday, Ibrahim Musa, a spokesman of the Islamic sect had told reporters in Abuja that the street protests would never stop El-Zakzaky, their leader, regained his freedom.
El-Zakzaky had been in detention for about four years in Nigeria and this had led to previous violent clashes between his followers and the police.
In November, a Nigerian court refused El-Zakzaky and his wife's bail. They were first arraigned on May 15, 2018, following their arrest in the northern city of Zaria in December 2015.
They were being charged by the Nigerian government of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, and disturbance of public peace, among others.
On trial with the Shiite leader were four other members of the group.
