Following the incident and clash that occured between the Nigerian Military and the Shiite members of Zakzaky. Amnesty International has accused the Nigerian
military of taking measures to cover up its
troops’ massacre of Shiite Muslims in Zaria,
Kaduna State last December.
In a report released today, the international
human rights and advocacy organization gave a
detailed account of the Nigerian military’s
massacre of Shiite Muslims in
Zaria between
December 12th and 14th, 2015. Amnesty
International provided evidence not only that the
military used excessive force against civilians,
killing more than 350 people, but that Nigerian
troops went to great lengths to cover up these
crimes.
Following the bloody encounter between the
Shiites and soldiers, SaharaReporters was the
first website to provide extensive evidence that
the troops mowed down scores of members of
the religious sect.
SaharaReporters had revealed that the carnage
happened after a confrontation between
members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria
(IMN) and a military convoy that was escorting
the Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai,
to an event. Following the encounter, the
Nigerian army alleged that the Shiite members
had attempted to assassinate General Buratai.
The sect vigorously denied the allegation.
In its damning report, Amnesty International
seemed to lend credence to the account given
by the Shiites. According to the human rights
organization, “the Nigerian Army has provided no
evidence to substantiate its claim that IMN
protesters attempted to assassinate the Chief of
Army Staff or shot at his convoy, or that the
protesters’ action warranted the degree of force
used against them.”
The report added, “the military reported one
fatality and one casualty among its ranks during
the initial clashes.”
Yesterday, the Kaduna State government asked a
Kaduna High Court to sentence fifty Shiite
members to death for causing the death of one
soldier.
Amnesty International provided images to
SaharaReporters depicting before and after
photos of Shiite sites of worship destroyed under
the order of the Nigerian military. The
organization also provided images of suspected
mass graves where the military reportedly hid the
bodies of the victims of their carnage.
Amnesty International disclosed that it “has
identified the location of one possible mass
grave in the Mando area near the city of Kaduna,
where [Amnesty International] found a large area
churned up by differs, with dried-up large vehicle
tracks still visible at the time of the visit.”
The pattern and behavior of the Nigerian military
following the initial clash triggered widespread
criticism. Lanre Olanrewaju, the chairperson of
the Civil Society Network Against Corruption
(CSNAC), told SaharaReporters, “If the military
believed their actions to be lawful, then why
should they go to such lengths to hide the dead
bodies from the public and the families of the
deceased? Their cover up shows the
premeditation in their action to murder unarmed
civilians.”
Satellite images provided by Amnesty
International show important Shiite religious sites
or property belonging to the IMN leader, Sheikh
Ibrahim Zakzaky, being demolished. According to
the report, “after the incident, the military
meticulously destroyed most of the evidence at
the scenes of the clashes. Soldiers sealed the
areas around Ibrahim al-Zakzaky’s compound and
around the Hussainiya in the afternoon of 12
December 2015 and for several days afterward.”
Amnesty International investigators found “that
Ibrahim al-Zakzaky’s compound had been razed
to the ground and the rubble removed,
bloodstains washed off, and bullets and spent
cartridge removed from the streets…several
other sites belonging to the IMN in Zaria,
including the Hussainiya, a recently created
cemetery, a shrine dedicated to Ibrahim Al-
Zakzaky’s mother, a media/film production
center, and a research center, were also
completely or partially destroyed in the days
following the incident.”
The Amnesty International report provided
recommendations to various Nigerian institutions
and authorities, including the Kaduna State
government and the Federal Government. To the
Kaduna State government, it is recommended
that it “ensure that the Judicial Commission of
Inquiry into the Zaria events…[be] impartial and
thorough.” It also urged the government to
ensure that the “Commission has the necessary
means to carry out its investigation unhindered
and the necessary powers to summon and
compel the relevant civil and military authorities
to cooperate fully.”
Amnesty International recommended that the
Federal Government “ensure [that] those
suspected of being criminally responsible are
held accountable through fair trials…and that
families and dependents of the victims of
extrajudicial executions and other unlawful
killings are entitled to obtain fair and adequate
reparation from the state, including financial
compensation.”
The Nigerian military has not offered a public
response to Amnesty International’s report at the
time of publication.we will still get to you.
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