HRW faults Army’s account of clash with Shi’ites

The Human Rights Watch, an international human rights advocacy body has faulted the account of the Nigerian Army, over the recent clash that led to the death of a number of members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), in Zaria, Kaduna state.

Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch said the “Nigerian military’s version of the events does not stack up. It is almost impossible to see how a roadblock by angry young men could justify the killings of hundreds of people. At best it was a brutal overreaction and at worst it was a planned attack on the minority Shia group.”

According to HRW, the action of Nigerian army soldiers from December 12 to 14, 2015, appears to have been wholly unjustified, adding, that the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the government should be sufficiently independent and impartial to hold those responsible to account.

The body stated that it interviewed 16 witnesses to the killings and five others, including local authorities, who said that Nigerian army soldiers fired on Shia Muslim members of the group at three locations in Zaria, in northern Nigeria.

“The army said its confrontation with the Shia sect members who had erected a makeshift roadblock near a mosque resulted from an assassination attempt on the army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, whose convoy was passing by. In an internal military document seen by Human Rights Watch, the army said protesters appeared to be taking up positions near the back of the convoy.

“The army carried out attacks at the Hussainniya Baqiyyatullah mosque and religious center, at the home of the Shiite leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Al Zakzaky, in the Gyellesu neighborhood and at the sect’s burial ground, Daral-Rahma, over the course of two days.

Read also: El-Zakzaky: Do we have another Boko Haram ahead?

“At least 300 Shia sect members, and likely many more, were killed and hundreds more injured, according to witnesses in at least two of the sites and a hospital source. Soldiers quickly buried the bodies in mass graves without family members’ permission, making it difficult to determine an accurate death toll, a statement from the group stated.

It also stated that although some people threw stones and had sticks, there has been no credible information that any soldiers were injured or killed.

On December 17, 2015, the Kaduna state governor, Malam Nasir El Rufai, announced the establishment of a state Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the incident. In his news conference, the governor listed a range of grievances against the Shia sect, including how road traffic had been disrupted during Shiite processions and the sect’s disregard for Nigerian authorities.

The federal government has yet to make any public statement on the killings, but a presidential spokesperson reportedly said that the incident was “a military affair.”

But Bekele said “Characterizing this terrible carnage against Shiites in Zaria as ‘a military affair’ is shocking. President Buhari should ensure the military’s appalling track record of serious human rights abuses is halted and does not continue under his term in office.”

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