TEHRAN - Massive rallies were held in Nigeria, calling for the Immediate and unconditional release of the Leader of the Islamic Movement Sheikh Ibraheem Zekzaky, while Nigerian police reportedly used live bullets to disperse protesters.

According to local media in Kaduna state, a peaceful protest held on Tuesday for the release of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) Sheikh Ibraheem Zekzaky turned violent after police fired live bullets at the demonstrators.

Meanwhile, thousands of IMN supporters attended peaceful rallies in cities such as Katsina, Bauchi, Gombe, Minna and other places on Tuesday to urge Sheikh Zakzaky’s immediate release.

The Nigerian army attacked two religious centers of the country's Shiite community on December 2015, killing hundreds of defenseless civilians there, and then the military arrested Sheikh Zakzaky after raiding his house and killing three of his sons, assistants and followers.

Political activists said later that the Nigerian army forces buried and set fire on the corpses of those Shiite Muslims who had been killed during the recent raids in Zaria region.

Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria have also demanded setting up of a judicial commission of inquiry to probe the killings of their colleagues in Zaria on December 2015 during a meeting with House of Representatives panel.

A report published in Nigeria mid-April 2016 confirmed that the Army discriminately shot dead as many as 347 Muslims last December while swooping on the followers of the country’s leading Shiite cleric.

The report released as local government of Kaduna state, where the killings occurred, concluded its special investigation on the incident, and the findings suggest the army fired at supporters of Sheikh Zakzaky.

The military and government declined to comment on the report.

Nigeria is fighting a seven-year-old Boko Haram that has killed at least thousands of people and forced nearly 3 million to flee their homes.

(source: farsnews)