Shiites Killing: How Army Buried Victims to Hide Massacre Toll
Category: Nigerian National News
AP
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Nigerian troops Wednesday buried the bodies of hundreds of victims of an
alleged military massacre of Shiite Muslims to hide the death toll, the
Shiite Islamic Movement in Nigeria said.
Wednesday's allegation comes as
human rights advocates and the United States called for an investigation
following the army's raid on Nigerian Shiites in which hundreds of
people were reportedly killed and Shiite leader Ibraheem Zakzaky
suffered four bullet wounds.
The
military said it acted after Shiites tried to assassinate Nigeria's
army chief. Army spokesman Col. Sani Usman did not immediately respond
to an email late Wednesday requesting comment on the burial charges.
Details of the weekend violence
in Zaria have been slow to emerge because the three attacked areas of
the northern town have been on lockdown with no one allowed to enter or
leave.
Shiite spokesman
Ibrahim Musa said soldiers took the bodies from the mortuary of Ahmadu
Bello University Teaching Hospital and buried them in mass graves on
Wednesday. His statement did not explain how he got the information.
"The
Nigerian army has desecrated our dead," Musa said. "We hereby demand
the location of the mass burial, and the interrogation of those who
ordered the operation."
Human rights groups say as many as 1,000 people may have been killed.
"The
United States calls on the government of Nigeria to quickly, credibly,
and transparently investigate these events in Zaria and hold to account
any individuals found to have committed crimes," the U.S. Embassy said
in a statement.
Also See: Recorded: Muslim leader Zakzaky's phone call with Iran during deadly Nigerian military siege
"It is essential that all sides
refrain from actions that further destabilize the situation," U.S.
Ambassador James Entwhistle added.
Amnesty
International said in a statement late Tuesday that the shooting of
members of the Shiite group in Zaria "must be urgently investigated ...
and anyone found responsible for unlawful killings must be brought to
justice."
"Whilst the final
death toll is unclear, there is no doubt that there has been a
substantial loss of life at the hands of the military," said M.K.
Ibrahim, director of Amnesty International, Nigeria.
But
the Shiite movement, which has millions of followers in Nigeria,
rejected the investigative panel it said has been set up following a
visit to Zaria on Tuesday by Interior Minister Abdulrahman Dambazau.
Musa
said it has no confidence in a panel led by the area police commander
because he is junior in rank to the alleged perpetrators of the
killings.
It said Dambazau, a retired general, did not even bother to visit wounded victims in the hospital.
The
bloodshed was yet another blow to Africa's most populous nation,
already beset by a 6-year-old insurgency waged by Boko Haram, a violent
Islamic group which is at odds with the Shiites and others who oppose
its extremist vision.
In addition to Wednesday's
alleged mass burial, Musa said soldiers on Monday carried away about 200
bodies from around the home of Zakzaky, and did not deposit them at the
hospital mortuary.
The military has said Zakzaky is in its "safe custody."
The
army said troops attacked sites in Zaria after 500 Shiites blocked the
convoy of Nigeria's army chief, and tried to kill him on Saturday. A
report from the military police said some Shiites were crawling through
tall grass toward Gen. Tukur Buratai's vehicle "with the intent to
attack the vehicle with (a) petrol bomb" while others "suddenly resorted
to firing gunshots from the direction of the mosque."
In a statement Monday, the army said both the military and Shiites lost lives but a toll still is being compiled.
The
National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria said it set up a special
investigations panel on Tuesday following complaints filed by concerned
citizens and from the military, which has asked the commission to
investigate the alleged assassination attempt on the army chief.
The
commission's chairman, Chidi Odinkalu, called the army attacks "a
massacre." He said one of Zakzaky's wives was killed. Two of Zakzaky's
sons also were killed and one was wounded, according to Musa.
Iran, seen as the guardian of the Shiite Muslim faith, has condemned the killings.
Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani called Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
Iran state TV said Rouhani told Buhari Tuesday that he expects the
Nigerian government to compensate families of victims.
Hundreds of Shiites protested in front of the Nigerian embassies in the Iranian and Indian capitals on Tuesday.
Nigeria's
Shiites, a movement of millions started 37 years ago by Zakzaky, who
dresses in the robes and turban of an Iranian ayatollah, often have
clashed with police and other security forces over their unlawful
blocking of major roads to hold religious processions.
Nigeria's
military is infamous for its excesses. In 2009, Nigerian armed forces
attacked Boko Haram's headquarters and killed about 700 people,
including its leader. Still, Boko Haram re-emerged as a much more
violent entity.
On Wednesday,
Sen. Shehu Sani, a human rights activist, said "The Zaria killings
simply affirmed the fact that as a nation we have not learnt our lessons
from our painful and hard experience.
"The action of the military is untenable, intolerable and unacceptable ... and a step toward tyranny."
The
Shiites two weeks ago suffered a suicide bombing in a procession that
killed 22 people. Boko Haram, a Salafist group, claimed responsibility
for the attack and threatened to "wipe out" the Shiites.
AP
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