Members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) have been staging protests since Sunday against the joint attack on Iran by the United States and Israel, which began on 28 February.
The Shia group, under the leadership of Ibrahim Zakzaky, has staged street demonstrations in Lagos, Niger, Kebbi, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kano, according to an IMN official who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday.
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The US and Israel launched missiles on Tehran, killing more than 160 schoolgirls in Minab, southern Iran. The country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, was killed in the attack alongside his wife and other family members.
The decades-long geopolitical and ideological war dates back to 1979, following the Islamic revolution that overthrew the Western-backed autocratic government with a theocratic system of governance rooted in Shia Islamic principles.
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The renewed crisis broke out months after a 12-day war in which the US and Israel, launched large-scale airstrikes on Iranian nuclear, military and strategic sites. Iran responded with a barrage of missiles and drones on the same day, firing over 150 ballistic missiles and more than 100 drones toward Israel.
A ceasefire was later brokered by President Trump and Qatar, bringing an end to active combat. The ceasefire, signed on 24 June 2025, temporarily stopped the exchange of strikes, but major disagreements over Iran’s nuclear programme, regional influence, and sanctions remained unresolved, leaving relations tense and contributing to renewed military escalation last Saturday.
Iran has been aggressively responding to the Saturday attack, firing airstrikes into Israel and at US targets across the Middle East.
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Protests in Nigeria
Adam Rogo, a member of the IMN media unit, told this newspaper that their members have staged protests in various parts of the country, including Maryland in Lagos and Suleja in Niger State.
“We held a demonstration today (3 March) in Suleja,” he said. Video of the demonstrations seen by our reporters showed protesters chanting “Death to America, death to Israel.”
Demonstrators, including women and children, carried Mr Khanemei’s portraits and waved Iranian flags while they dragged American and Israeli flags on the floor.
Mr Rogo said their message was clear: condemning the killing of the Iranian leader and Israel’s illegal occupation in Gaza.
Police in these states, where IMN members have staged protests, have not issued any official statements.
While the spokesperson for the Lagos Police Command, Abimbola Adebisi, said she would need to contact the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Maryland for a detailed report, her colleagues in the other states haven’t responded to messages sent to them.
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