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Daily News Analysis

Army perpetrates bloodbath against Islamic movement in Nigeria

Crescent International

The Nigerian army, like armies in most Muslim countries, has perpetrated a massacre of innocent Muslims in Nigeria. It targeted the headquarters of the Islamic movement in Nigeria and murdered some 20 people in cold blood. Hundreds of others were injured.

Zaria,
Sunday December 13, 2015, 22:39 EST

The Nigerian army carried out a massacre of innocent Muslims in Nigeria and then had the gall to blame the Muslims for the murderous rampage.

The massacre was carried out on Saturday (December 12) as the Islamic movement in Nigeria led byShaikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky was preparing for the change of flag ceremony in the movement’s headquarters in Zaria. According to reports from the scene, at least 15 and perhaps as many as 20 members of the movement, were murdered by the trigger-happy soldiers.

Among the dead are the wife of the Shaikh and one of his sons. In a statement from the movement’s headquarters, Ibrahim Musa, President of the Media Forum of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, disclosed the killings in a statement released earlier today (Three sons of the Shaikh were martyred during the Quds Rally in August 2014).

Other prominent members of the movement murdered by soldiers include Shaikh Muhammadu Turi, Mustapha Sa’eed, Ibrahim Usman, and a leading female member, Jummai Gilima.

Shaikh Zakzaky has also been taken into custody and his whereabouts are unknown. Used to frequent arrest by successive regimes, the Shaikh has been an outspoken critic of Nigeria’s various regimes and their brutal tactics.

According to Ibrahim Musa’s statement, “The killings took place at three different locations that include the residence of the leader of the Movement at Gyallesu, the Husainiyya Baqiyatullah at the GRA and the Darur Rahma located along Zaria-Jos Road where many [unarmed] people were killed.

“The killings were so brutal at Gyallesu that even those injured in the shooting were identified and killed in cold blood by the soldiers. The victims run into hundreds, if not thousands.

“Considering the gross violation of fundamental human rights and extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the Nigerian Army, the Islamic Movement hereby condemns these unjustifiable acts,” Musa’s statement said.

True to form, the Nigerian military put out a scandalously misleading statement about the massacre. Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, Acting Director Army Public Relations, accused members of the Islamic movement of staging an assassination attempt on the life of the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Burutai around noon on Saturday.

The military statement claimed the army chief’s convoy was attacked. If so, it seems incredible that not one soldier was injured much less murdered yet scores of Islamic movement members were shot and killed.

Why the army carried out this unprovoked attack has not been explained so far. What is clear is that it was a pre-meditated well-planned attack aimed at destroying the Islamic movement and eliminating its leader.

With the election of Muhammad Buhari as president of Nigeria earlier this year, many had hoped that the military’s excesses would be brought to an end. Unfortunately as the latest horrific episode shows, this is not the case.

END


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