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Video Purportedly Shows Nigerian Army, Shi’ite Sect Confrontation
Kano. – Nigerian troops yesterday evacuated the bodies of Shiite Muslims killed in two days of clashes with the army in northern Zaria, home base of the pro-Iranian group, its spokesman and residents said.
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“The United States calls on the Government of Nigeria to quickly, credibly, and transparently investigate these events in Zaria and hold to account any individuals found to have committed crimes”, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement Wednesday.
The bloodshed began over the weekend.
The military claimed Shiites attacked a convoy of the army chief, Yusuf Buratai, leaving soldiers no option but to retaliate.
This contradicted an earlier army communiqué saying that there had been “loss of lives as a result of the Shi’ite group members blocking roads and not allowing other passers-by to go about their lawful businesses and activities”.
Commenting on the killings, the director of Amnesty International, Nigeria, Ambassador Mohammed Ibrahim said it is obvious that the military didn’t adhere to the use of firearms as a last resort noting that the military must refrain from using excessive where it is avoidable.
“Citizens must ask, who ordered this carnage?” Iranian parliamentarian Hossein-Ali Haji-Delighani said that Iran must prepare an appropriate response to ensure that Zakzaky and his family are compensated for the “oppression inflicted” upon them.
The Army reportedly invaded the residence of the group’s leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky in Guillesu area of Zaria on Sunday morning.
The commission’s chairman, Chidi Odinkalu, called the army attacks “a massacre”.
Boko Haram, which follows an extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam, sees Mr Zakzaky’s Shia followers as apostates, and claimed responsibility two weeks ago for a suicide bombing on a Shia protest that killed 22 people.
The Shiites said that the Area Commander, being of a junior officer when compared to the perpetrators of the attack on their members, might not be fair to all parties, since the matter involveed a high ranking officer of a Lt. General.
On Saturday night, Nigerian military forces surrounded the house of Sheikh Zakzaky in Zaria. Though there were reports that his wife, son and deputy were killed in the raid, his wife was not killed and is also now in custody.
The Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, has demanded an explanation by the Nigerian government for its crackdown on the Shia Muslim sect led by Ibrahim Zakzaky, a Nigerian preacher who is a devoted follower of Iran’s late Ayatollah Khomeini.
The source also said three persons were feared dead. Yet again, the Nigerian military’s lack of transparency may have made a bad situation worse.
The clash occurred during an argument between the group and soldiers during attempt to remove roadblocks mounted by the group on the Sabon Gari-Samaru road.
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The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs called for restraint and a probe of the incident, warning against a repeat of the Boko Haram insurgency.