Alwaght | News & Analysis Website

Alwaght- Nigerian Shiite Muslims are not safe left and right, a few days ago over twenty worshipers were killed in a terrorist attack by Boko Haram Takfiris and on Saturday and Sunday over 450 have been killed by the Nigerian Army in an apparent act of state terrorism.
In the first incident on November 27th,over 20 Shiite Muslims were killed in a terrorist bomb attack targeting an annual religious procession in the northern Nigerian state of Kano.
During the incident, a suicide bomber targeted Shiite Muslims during Arbaeen Symbolic Trek along Kano- Zaria road. The annual procession is organized by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria led by prominent Islamic scholar Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky.
The Shiite Muslims expected protection from the country’s security forces including the army, well, their expectations were misplaced. The incident started on Saturday when troops attacked Shiite Muslims in the country’s city of Zaria, Kaduna State, in which at least 15 people were killed and many more injured.
Reports said troops opened fire on the people attending a ceremony in Hussainiyyah Baqeeyatullah, a religious center. The Shiite Muslims had reportedly stopped the convoy of the Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai as the top Shiite cleric was planning a speech in the religious center.
Authorities claim the Shiite cleric of trying to assassinate the Nigerian army chief, a charge that he has vehemently denied.
Zakzaky has said that the military attacks are unjustified, adding that the government has “framed a kind of lies.” “They came to my house and then there was shooting constantly,” he said.
The military statement claimed the army chief’s convoy was attacked. If so, it is hard to believe that not one soldier was injured much less killed 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.

The fate Sheikh Zakzaky remains unknown since his arrest after his house was besieged by heavily armed soldiers with armored personnel carriers.
Nigerian army had also targeted Shiites in July last year as people were holding a demonstration on the International Quds Day in solidarity with oppressed Palestinians and to condemn Israeli regime attacks on the Palestinians.
Shiites in Nigeria have also been targeted by the Takfiri terrorist group, Boko Haram.
More than 20 people were killed on November 27 in a Boko Haram bomb attack targeting Nigerian Shiite Muslims during an annual religious procession in the northern state of Kano.

450 confirmed dead, toll might reach 1,000

In an interview with Press TV, Dr. Nusaiba Ibrahim Zakzaky, the Dubai based daughter of Nigerian Shiite cleric Sheikh Zakzaky said her parents were transferred to a military barrack while expressing hope that they will get medical attention since they are injured.
On the casualty figures, she said 450 Shiites have been confirmed dead during the attack by Nigerian troops adding that the figure might exceed 1000. Regarding the possible reason of the massacre, Dr.Nusaiba pointed out that her dad has been trying to get people understand their rights, “because in Nigeria people are just oppressed, people do not have rights, the government does whatever they want to do, they have the right to, as you can, see kill anybody.”
She added that “I guess,  those in power want the status quo maintained because if people understand that they have rights and they have a choice and they do not have to live the way they are living right now, maybe their power is threatened.”
Nigerian army had also targeted Shiites in August last year as people were holding a demonstration to condemn Israeli attacks on the Palestinians.

Iran Urges Nigeria to protect Muslims' lives

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called on the Nigerian government to take “prompt and serious” action to prevent further violence against Muslims in the West African country.
In a telephone conversation with his Nigerian counterpart Geoffrey Onyeama on Monday, Zarif expressed “deep concern” over the recent bloody clashes, which broke out between Muslim worshipers and government troops.
Elsewhere Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also on Monday called on Nigeria to determine the fate of Zakzaky.
Amir-Abdollahian said the Muslim Nigerian people and all nations in the Muslim world definitely attach significance to the fate of Zakzaky and his health condition.

Nigerian Sultan of Sokoto warns army over massacre of Shiites

Meanwhile the  powerful Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III has cautioned the Nigerian military following the recent battle between soldiers and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria. The Sultan is considered a spiritual leader in the Muslim community in Nigeria
The Sultan, who spoke in his position as the President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), said further that terrorist group, Boko Haram became a serious problem in Nigeria due to an incident similar to the Zaria attacks.
His remarks were contained in a statement released on his behalf by NSCIA Secretary General, Ishaq Oloyede on Monday.
“While there are claims and counter-claims on what actually precipitated the latest heart-rending incident,‎ the NSCIA‎ urges the authorities to exercise restraint.”
“The history of the circumstances that led to the outbreak of militant insurgency in the past, with cataclysmic consequences that Nigeria is yet to recover from, should not be allowed to repeat itself.”
“We urge the federal government to immediately constitute a judicial commission of inquiry to thoroughly unravel the immediate and remote causes of the current mayhem. Besides, the commission should also investigate the past incidents involving the movement so that justice can be done.”
“The sanctity of human life is inviolable ‎in Islam and painstaking efforts should be made at all times to prevent bloodshed. In other words, life is sacred and the fundamental responsibility of government is to guarantee the security of life and property.”
“While no group should be allowed to constitute law unto itself or arrogate unconstitutional powers to itself under any guise, the fact still remains that the position of the law is clear when there is any breach.”

Nigerian army attempts to cover-up massacre

There are reports that Nigerian troops are digging large holes and putting the bodies of the members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria that they killed in Zaria, in their way of hiding the massacre. They are trying to show the world that they only killed few members of the movement.
According to a statement, by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, the country’s army is also dressing some dead bodies with the army’s uniform and take pictures lie to to the world that it was a clash between the members of the movement and the Nigerian army.
Following the hotly contested election of Muhammad Buhari as president of Nigeria earlier this year, many had hoped that the military’s unrestrained behavior would be a thing of the past. Unfortunately the latest massacre of Muslims shows that impunity by the military is still the order of the day in Nigeria especially in the restless northern Muslim dominated region.