Alwaght- Unconfirmed reports say least 20 Shiite Muslims have been killed after Nigerian military armed forces attacked participants at a religious ceremony in the tense northern part of the west African country.
Other reports have put the figure of those killed as 12 after clashes erupted between the Nigerian army and Shiite Muslims in the city of Zaria, Kaduna State.
In a statement on Saturday, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria which organized the religious ceremony said, “the Nigerian soldiers have opened fire this afternoon at Husainiyyah (religious ceremonies hall) Baqiyyatullah Zaria killing scores and injuring many. The combat ready soldiers stormed the vicinity of Husainiyyah this afternoon. The incessant shootings of life bullets by the Nigerian soldiers continued at Husainiyyah as they sieged the building; in addition they came with an armored tank.”
Local media reports claimed that the Shiite Muslims reportedly created a security scare by stopping the convoy of the Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai as the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, was planning a speech in the religious center.
However in a quick rejoinder, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria posted a statement in its website stating that, “the flimsy excuse given by the Nigerian Army, as reported by some media outlets, that a Commandant or Chief of Army Staff (COAS) narrowly escaped assassination as a result of attack from Muslim brothers and Sisters of the Islamic Movement is a blatant lie.”
The statement added that the attack on the defenseless people by the Nigerian troops was unprovoked adding that the unarmed peacfulMuslims gathered for ceremony at Husainiyyah, as usual to change the flag on the dome of Husainiyyah, heralding the beginning of the month of Rabiul Awwal- the birth month of the Prophet Muhammad Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him and his household.
Last year in July, twenty-five demonstrators, including the sons of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, were gunned down by the country’s army during an anti-Israeli rally held to mark International Quds Day in the city of Zaria in Kaduna State .
The deaths occurred during anti-Israel rally, as Nigerians took to the streets to denounce Tel Aviv’s crimes on Palestinians especially in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Among those killed was 18-year-old Mahmud Ibrahim Zakzaky, a son of Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, which had called for the rally. He is a critic of political corruption and Boko Haram. On November 27 Boko Haram terrorists claimed responsibility for the killing than 20 Shiite Muslim worshippers during the annual Arbaeen trek in the northern state of Kano.