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Nigerian police officers patrol in the streets of Abuja during clashes with members of the shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) on July 22, 2019. - The Shiites are protesting against the detention of IMN leader Ibrahim Zakzaky. Six Shiite protesters were killed in clashes with Nigerian police in the capital Abuja, witnesses told AFP on July 22. (Photo by Kola SULAIMON / AFP) (Photo credit should read KOLA SULAIMON/AFP/Getty Images)

Many commuters were on Tuesday stranded along the Kubwa Expressway in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) after soldiers clamped down on some members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN).

The IMN members, popularly known as Shiites,  were marching to the FCT metropolis from Kubwa when the soldiers stopped them.

The Shiites were said to be on an annual symbolic trek.

An attempt to prevent the IMN members from gaining entry to the FCT metropolis left many commuters trying to get to their workplaces stranded because of a blockade set up by the army.

Some Shiite female occupants of a vehicle headed for the city centre were reportedly assaulted by some soldiers after they recognised them.

They were later put in a van and whisked away to an unknown destination.

Also, some passersby were not spared of the harassment by the soldiers.

Theideal  reports that Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, the leader of the IMN,  was arrested after some of his followers clashed with soldiers in Zaria, Kaduna, in 2015.

In July, a Kaduna High Court  discharged and acquitted El-Zakzaky, after spending about seven years in detention.