KADUNA,
Nigeria (AP) -- A newly banned Shiite group in northern Nigeria
said Thursday it was appealing in court against the government decision
that observers are warning could spark sustained violence.
The
Islamic Movement in Nigeria said the ban by Kaduna state officials
violates Nigerians' rights to religious freedom. The ban, announced
earlier this month, was made official with its publication on Wednesday.
"We are already seeking redress in the court and will pursue the case to its logical conclusion," the group's statement said.
Nigeria
is almost equally divided between Christians and Muslims, most of them
Sunni. Tensions with the Shiite population are high after the army
gunned down more than 300 people in an attack in December on the Islamic
Movement in Nigeria's headquarters.
The
government has said the group provoked the attack, with the military
accusing it of trying to assassinate the country's army chief - a claim
that human rights groups have called unbelievable.
The group's leader, Ibraheem Zakzaky, has been in custody since December.
On
Oct. 12, the group said 13 of its members had been killed when security
forces and "paid thugs" attacked religious gatherings in multiple
locations in northern Nigeria. Officials did not confirm the death toll.
Earlier this week, the group said several dozen women and children members had been detained.
Kaduna
officials say the ban applies only to the group and not Shiites in
general. But Human Rights Watch says the ban "appears to have triggered"
anti-Shiite violence.
The Nigerian risk
analysis firm SBM Intelligence went further this week, warning in a
report that a "reckless" crackdown could result in a "full-blown
insurgency" - just as it did with the Boko Haram extremist group, which
is now blamed for more than 20,000 deaths over the past several years.
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