NIGERIA: At least 11 people were killed in Nigeria as members of the Shia community commemorated Muharram on Wednesday amid rising tensions and bans on gatherings in some parts of the country, BBC reported.

In Katsina state, where Ashura gatherings were banned, at least nine people were killed when police opened fire on a procession in the town of Funtua, witnesses said.

At least two people were killed when unruly crowds attacked Shia gatherings and the house of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) leader, setting it alight. The IMN was outlawed last week, with the Kaduna government terming the group a threat to the state.

Members of the Shia community are a minority in Nigeria.

In the northern city of Kano, police said mourners who were returning home after a procession were attacked by young men, and officers had to rescue 100 of them from the attackers.

In the main city of Plateau state, eyewitnesses said that a Shia centre was set on fire.