Review…El-Rufai’s double speak on the massacre of Muslims

By Stanley Azuakola . . .
Following the clash between members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (Shi’ites) and soldiers of the Nigerian Army in Kaduna recently, the state’s Governor Nasir El-Rufai delivered a state wide broadcast giving a situation report to the people of the state
The fact that throughout the speech he made no mention of the disproportionate use of force by the soldiers on the Shi’ites leading to the loss of scores of lives was considered disappointing by many.

Last year, when soldiers raided this same group, resulting in the loss of 32 lives, El-Rufai described it as: “Genocidal Jonathanian Army kills once again”.

(Below is a screenshot from the July 2014 Facebook post by El-Rufai. He was not governor then.)

To El-Rufai 32 dead people in 2014 was “genocide”, but hundreds of dead people in 2015 is “an avoidable weekend tragedy”.

The governor surprisingly repeated the Army’s claim that the “convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, reported an ambush and attempted assassination at a roadblock mounted by members of Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky-led group.

The assassination claim by the COAS and the governor sounded rather suspect, going by according to the governor himself, “video clips aired on national television and online”. It seemed more like the open display of lawlessness by a group which had been allowed to have its way for too long, but at the time the governor was in the opposition political party, it didn’t matter much to him.

Last year, after the brutal army attack in which some sons of Zakzaky were killed, the Shi’ite leader held a press conference and he was asked if it is true that the problem started when a “high ranking military officer wanted to pass through and he was blocked.”
Here’s what Zakzaky said, “It is true that a certain military officer was refused exit, did that give the license to shoot? For instance, we conducted the Maulud of Sayyedah Zahra in Zaria the same day the governor was given a traditional title, they pleaded that we should ensure smooth running of the two programs simultaneously, as we shared the same passage. We decided to pave way for them to use the city, while we conducted our programs outside the city. They thanked us. As they were going out after their programs, some of their (aggrieved) members started throwing stones at them; they then felt safe with us and decided to pass through our congregation of event safely. At one time also, the Vice President had passed safely through our congregation of event. This means what you heard was not right. It has not happened.”

Read also: Zaria: We killed 7, Army says as Sultan calls for probe

The blocking of the exit of the military officer was likely the cause of the military assault last year as well, but Zakzaky claimed then that the Army had orders from the presidency to come and kill his people. Wonder if he would repeat the same claim now that Muhammadu Buhari and not Goodluck Jonathan is the president. The issues in all of these are out in the open and El-Rufai didn’t see it as reason enough to hold back on his support of the group at the time. To him, and a lot of the other Nigerians justifying the military act of last weekend, it was a “genocidal” attack by “Jonathan’s” Army. Suddenly that same Army, without any fresh recruitment is now “Nigeria’s” Army.

Another similarity between the killings last year and those of this year is that the military released a report afterwards saying it was acting in self defence; that the sect members attacked civilians and tried to disarm soldiers.

(Below is a photo of Military situation report from last year’s incident.)

“Troops on ground responded in self-defense and engaged them in exchange of gunfire. Reinforcement sent by depot Nigerian Army immediately. Situation. Enemy force. Killed in Action 10. Wounded in action 2. Prisoner of war 13. 1 x ambulance captured,” the report said.

Notice how the Shi’ites were referred to as “prisoners of war” last year. In El-Rufai’s speech Thursday, he called the areas attacked by the Army as “theatre of operations”. Same kind of military terminology signifying a war zone.

So what changed? Last year, El-Rufai was not governor. He was opposition and felt all was fair. A lot of those supporting the latest military action were opposed to the former government, the same way a lot of the defenders this time are opposed to the current government. The sanctity and dignity of human lives is respected in Nigeria only based on what side of the partisan divide the victim lies. There’s no collective sense of humanity. You are only human if you’re on my side.

Read also: Zaria: Army, Shi’ite group argue over who started fight

Governor El rufai’s talk about setting up a judicial commission of inquiry sounds like a typical waste of time especially because in his speech he had already made up his mind on the six points he said the Kaduna government had learnt. Why set up a commission when you are so sure? Just act. It feels ironic that the governor now admits that the group has been lawless for years, refuses to respect constituted authority and disrupts movement of other law abiding citizens, among other things. Only last year, he didn’t know all that. Or he chose not to know.

The Army was as lawless as the sect in Kaduna last weekend. It’s a shame that fact is being glossed over. There can never be any justification for what can pass as murder and carnage. The government – not just in Kaduna – now has to think how to ensure that lawless sects and individuals do not oppress other citizens. It should not take the passage of a high ranking military officer for action to be taken, and certainly not the sort of action taken by General Tukur Buratai.

The governor was in order in his conclusion though, when he said, “Henceforth, no person or group, under any guise will be allowed to block any road, obstruct public highways, occupy public facilities or inconvenience citizens in Kaduna State. Anybody that needs to march may do so, but they cannot take over public facilities or disrupt social services and commercial activities in Kaduna State, and any march or procession can be undertaken only with the prior knowledge of, and protection of the police to prevent the breakdown of law and order.”

Hundreds of people didn’t need to die in the hands of an overreaching army for the government to realise this.

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