TERROR! How the Nigerian Army turned Shiite empire into rubbles

On December 12, this year, men of the Nigerian Army and members of the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) clashed in Kaduna state over reasons yet to be fully unravelled. The clash which began like a child play on Saturday had allegedly claimed over 1,000 lives with the Headquarters of the Islamic move¬ment turned into rubbles.

Although both parties to the clash had, at separate times, given their different ac¬counts of what led to the bloody encounter on December 12, this year, it appears that the real reasons which provoked the clash were yet to be fully unearthed.

The Authority on Saturday visited the scene of the battle between members of the Nigerian Army and that of the IMN yesterday and reports that the level of destruc¬tion visited on the Headquarters of the Islamic Movement is one that requires the convocation of judicial panel of enquiry to unravel what actually triggered the clash.

On December 12, this year, men of the Nige¬rian Army and members of the Islamic Movement of Ni¬geria (IMN) clashed in Kaduna state over reasons yet to be fully unravelled.
The clash which began like a child play on Saturday had alleg¬edly claimed over 1,000 lives with the headquarters of the Islamic movement turned into rubbles.
Violence had reportedly erupt¬ed when members of the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria , during a procession in Zaria al¬legedly attempted to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen Tukur Buratai compelling sol-diers to use minimum force to disperse the crowd.
But credible sources close to the warring parties disclosed that the deadly clash might have been caused by a long time cat and mouse relations between the Shi¬ite members and the military.
It was gathered that both the military personnel in Zaria bar¬racks and the sect's members had been looking for an opportunity to test their might.
A visit yesterday to Shiite's headquarters at Husainiyya Baki¬yatullah, media village in Dambo and residence of its leader, Sheik Ibrahim el-Zakzaky, which was built in Gyallesu, near Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Congo Campus, revealed that the mili¬tary did not only destroy the sect's camps but also took over its sites
The Authority on Saturday also observed bullet holes on neighbouring houses as soldiers mounted the armoured carriers and positioned themselves like those in a war zone.
Some of the residents living close to the Shiite's sites who spoke with this reporter said they fled the area when the battle be¬gan for fear of the unknown.
Our correspondent, however, observed that the level of destruc¬tions on the sect empire built for decades will require so much to rebuild.
Both parties, however, at separate fora, explained what happened.

How the destruction of Shiite's empire began
According to the military, hostilities began when members of the Shiite group blocked the route of the army chief’s con¬voy in Zaria.

The army authorities had claimed that it maintained its calm and tried to appeal to them to see reasons and allow them to pass.
The army added that of a sudden, the Shiite followers began to attack them and were attempting to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Burutai.

The soldiers claimed that when they sensed that the life of the army chief was in danger, minimal force was used to clear a route of escape for their boss.

Narrating further, the GOC said the ad¬vance team of the Chief of Army Staff, Tu¬kur Burutai that normally clears the road for him, had actually attempted that day to clear the road leading to the Emirs pal¬ace up to Zaria city center, but when they wanted to come back with COAS, the road was blocked by El Zakzaky's followers.

He said the Army Chief convoy was to¬tally blocked from passing while efforts to appeal to them failed.
"We did not want to engage them. But at a point, they started throwing missiles and it became clear that the life of the COAS was in danger. They were attacking with spears, arrows and other weapons.

"So the Army had to force their way with minimum force and went ahead to see the Emir.
"Then, we got reports that the Shi¬ites started mobilizing their members all around Zaria and environs from all their enclaves.
"The shittes members in their numbers mobilized and were attacking security forces around Zaria and we had to bring in minimum force to bring the situation un¬der control.

"Because of the report we had about their mobilizing, we had to secure their bases in the event they attacked us with bow and ar¬row, stones, catapult and other weapons."

The GOC however urged the sect mem¬bers to be law abiding, adding "they have been taking law into their hands and we cannot allow that to go on."

According to him, before now, they have been blocking the highways, preventing even the executive Governor's passage and sometimes preventing him from alighting from his convoy adding that other Nige¬rians have also been deprived of their re¬spective rights of movement by the sect.

"As I am speaking to you, there is hap¬piness and jubilation in Zaria because the people have never experienced freedom for a long time," he added.

But in a statement signed by Ibrahim Musa, President of Media Forum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, he said the Army 's account was false and that soldiers did not use minimum force on the sect but came down heavily on the members lead¬ing to serious loss of lives and destruction of properties.

His words: "as at now, there is no idea as to the whereabouts of the leader of the Movement, Sayyid Ibraheem Zakzaky nor his current condition, and aggrieved mem¬bers of the Movement across the country have taken to the streets in condemnatory protests

"In the mean time, leading members of the Islamic Movement and other members as well, have been killed by the soldiers including the leader of the Kano Center, Sheikh Muhammad Turi, Dr. Mustapha Sa’eed, Malam Ibrahim Usman and Sister Jummai Gilima.

Also killed was Sayyid Aliy, the son of the leader of the Movement, Sayyid Ibra¬heem Zakzaky (H) and tens of other mem¬bers
The sect statement added: "The spo¬radic killings took place at three differ-ent locations that include the residence of the reverred leader of the Movement at Gyallesu, the Husainiyya Bakiyatullah at the GRA and the Darur Rahma located along Zaria-Jos road where many harmless people were killed.

"The killing was so brutal at Gyallesu that even those injured in the shooting were identified and killed in cold blood by the soldiers. And as at the time of writing this press release, the victims run into their hundreds, if not thousands"
"Considering the gross violation of fun¬damental human rights and extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the Nigerian Army, the Islamic Movement hereby condemns these unjustifiable acts.

"We state categorically that the claim by the Army that members of the Movement attempted to assasinate the Chief of Army Staff was a blatant lie as the army came back to launch their attack more than an hour after the COAS had passed," the state¬ment said.

The IMN protem spokesman, Mallam Abdul-Mumin Giwa, who signed a state¬ment on behalf of the organisation also al¬leged that there have been several attempts by the soldiers to cover up the “increasing level of casualties” since the conflict began.
Giwa told journalists in Abuja that sol¬diers have been taking away corpses to unknown destinations, fuelling fears that ‘’many of our people may have been buried in mass graves in certain places.’’

The group also claimed that the home of their leader, Sheikh el-Zakzaky, had been razed, their mosque, Hussainiyah Baqi¬yatullah, reduced to rubble, while count¬less numbers of their mem¬bers have been displaced, arrested or killed.
Against this backdrop, the IMN made eight immediate demands on the Federal

Government but did not indicate what it would do if they are not met. The demands are:

*Immediate and unconditional release of el-Zakzaky, whom the military says is in protective custody with his wife;
*Release of all their members in the cus¬tody of the Police and the Army;
*Cessation of the molestation of their members who should be allowed to be met by the International Red Cross;
*Release of the corpses of all those killed;
*Payment of full compensation for all property destroyed, and
*Payment of “diyyah” (compensation for families of victims).
In a petition they sent to President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, the group claimed that soldiers who led the at¬tack on its procession killed about 1,000 of its adherents between Saturday last week and Wednesday.

The movement also sent copies of the petition to Buratai, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Open Society Initiative of West Africa (OSIWA).

Receiving the petition by the IMN in the presence of local investigators from the Amnesty International and the Hu¬man Rights Watch, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu of OSIWA indicated that it is not the death toll from the crisis that matters now, but the need to hear from the survivors what happened.

The arrest and detention of Shiite's lead¬er el-Zakzaky
Responding to the fear expressed by the Islamic Movement on the whereabouts of its leader, the Nigerian Army authorities said that they actually arrested leader of the Islamic Movement, Sheik Ibrahim el-Zakzaky and that he is alive and in protec¬tive custody.

Addressing a news conference in Kaduna,the GOC, 1 Div Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade, said the sect leader and the wife were in their custody but now handed over to po¬lice for further investigations.

The GOC who jointly addressed the world press onference with Kaduna State Commissioner of Police CP Usman She¬hu, stated that, at the appropriate time, Sheik el-Zakzaky would speak to his fol¬lowers.

Answering questions on whether there was a police permit before the procession of the sect, the Commissioner of Police, Shehu Usman,said the sect members were a law unto themselves as they do not respect any constituted authorities or obey any law.

He said even when they are invited, they do not honor police invitation"CP Usman said.
FG/Gov el-Rufai's efforts to bring peace in Zaria

Since the carnage, both the state and the Federal Governments have been making efforts to restore peace in Zaria.
For instance, the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazau led the Federal Government delegation to Kaduna State to assess the extent of damage caused by the bloody clash between the military operatives and Islamic Movement of Ni¬geria.

The Minister also held a closed door meeting with Kaduna state Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, on the develop¬ment in the state before he proceeded to Zaria to ascertain what really transpired between the sect and the soldiers.

Speaking briefly with journalists at Government House, Kaduna, Danbazau said: "I came to Kaduna to see the situ¬ation of things and I decided to see the Chief Security Officer of the state.

"I am on my way to Zaria to see the situ¬ation of things," he said.
Security operatives have since stopped Shiites protest in Tudun Wada in Kaduna metropolis to avoid break down of law and order.

el-Rufai to set judicial commission of inquiry
Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-rufai, had declared that a judicial com¬mission of inquiry is to be established into the recent clash between Shiite and the military in Zaria.

This was disclosed in a state wide broadcast by governor el-Rufai.
The governor said that the composition and terms of reference of the commission of inquiry will be announced within two weeks.
He assured the people of the state that the government is committed to securing the state and upholding the rights of every citizen.

In an address to the people of Kaduna State on Thursday, el-Rufai provided an update on the Zaria clash and the events that preceded what he described as a trag¬edy.

“We have witnessed sad events in Zaria,” the governor said.
“There have been tragic consequences and needless loss of lives, and we extend our condolences to the families that have been affected.”

el-Rufai further disclosed that “in this sombre moment, the government has di¬rected that steps be taken to address the humanitarian fallouts of the security op¬erations.”

The governor stressed that “everyone has a fundamental right to their faiths and beliefs, but no one has any right to prac¬tise his faith in ways that diminish, dis¬tress or inconvenience others.”

He therefore announced that “hence¬forth, no person or group, under any guise will be allowed to block any road, obstruct public highways, occupy public facilities or inconvenience citizens in Ka¬duna State. Anybody that needs to march may do so, but they cannot take over pub¬lic facilities or disrupt social services and commercial activities in Kaduna State, and any march or procession can be un¬dertaken only with the prior knowledge of, and protection of the police to prevent the breakdown of law and order.”

Enumerating what the government had learnt from security reports regarding the events in Zaria, the governor highlight¬ed the facts that were known, as well as complaints and allegations that had been made.

He explained that the Kaduna State is persuaded that the interests of account¬ability and transparency are best served by a judicial commission of inquiry that will allow all claims to be tested with ju¬dicial rigour.

According to him, the commission of inquiry is to be set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act as "it will examine the im¬mediate and remote causes of the Zaria incident, and assemble a factual and au¬thoritative account that the government can study and act upon"

The governor further added that he will not tolerate any escalation of lawlessness, insisting that “the government continues to invest heavily in security as a founda¬tion for the successful execution of our economic and social agenda to develop Kaduna State.”

Meanwhile, the United States Ambas¬sador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, has expressed the US government’s deep con¬cern over reports of violent clashes during the past several days between the Nigerian Army and the Shi’ite group in Zaria, Ka¬duna State.

He said that while the details of the incidents that began on December 12 re-mained unclear, “we are dismayed to learn of multiple civilian deaths. It is essential that all sides refrain from actions that fur¬ther destabilise the situation.”

Also, the Senate, after over one hour closed-door session on the clash, resolved to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the unfortunate incident.

The Upper House therefore set up an Ad-hoc Committee to probe the clash. The committee is headed by the Chair¬man of the Senate Committee on Defence, Ahmed Lawan, with members drawn from the committees on Defence, Intelli¬gence and National Security, the Judiciary, Army, Police Affairs, Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs.

Similarly, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto and Founder, The Kukah Centre, Mat¬thew Hassan Kukah, has appealed to both parties to sheathe their swords. He asked the Federal Government to act fast to pre¬vent the violence from escalating.

Kukah spoke last Wednesday at the inaugural forum on Religion and Social Transformation in sub-Saharan Africa, organised by The Kukah Centre in part¬nership with the Department of Intercul¬tural Theology, DePaul University, USA.

Bishop Kukah observed that religion is not responsible for violence although peo¬ple stand on its platform to perpetrate it.
Although Kaduna State Governor had promised to set up a judicial commission enquiry soon, it is hoped the real causes of the bloody clash will be exposed with a lasting solution provided.