See the 5 Conditions Sheikh El-Zakzaky's Followers Gave FG for Peace in the Army-Shiite War
A series of demonstrations staged in various parts of northern Nigeria, calling for the release of Ibrahim Zakzaky
While addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, the Media Forum Secretary of the Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Abdulmumin Giwa, and Yola leader of the movement, Abdulrahman Abubakar, has itemised five conditions for possible truce, among them, the immediate release of their spiritual leader, Sheikh El-Zakzaky.
The group, which claimed that more than 300 of their members were shot dead during the Saturday and Sunday showdown, said they had incurred both human and material losses as a result of the clamp down on them by soldiers and could not even account for most of their corpses till date.
Presenting a catalogue of demands to the government of Nigeria, the embattled group’s leaders said:
“We want the army to hand over our leader, Sheikh El-Zakzaky, to us immediately for medical care. We ask the military to release all our arrested members. We ask for the army to stop molestation of our members; all corpses of our brothers and sisters killed by the army should be released for proper Islamic burial.
Foreign Muslims students carry placards and shout slogans against the Nigerian government’s alleged massacre of Shiite Muslims.
We want full compensation for the lives lost as well as our properties destroyed, and we want a full-scale investigation and prosecution of culprits involved in the killing of our members,” Giwa said.
Giwa also said that since the Saturday incident, their members have continued to suffer more deaths with the Tuesday incident when men of the Nigerian Police Mobile Force attacked their members and killed four.
“We had no premeditated plan to attack the chief of army staff as claimed by the army. On that fateful day when we were getting set to celebrate the Maulud of our holy prophet at the Husseiniyya prayer ground, the Nigerian Army came and stationed a detachment of soldiers there and the military presence created tension amongst our members.
Even when the COAS came to pass, there was no incident at all. But two hours later, soldiers came back and began to open fire on our members. More than 300 people were killed there.”
Members of the Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria in protest of the leader
According to him, later in the night, the army went to Gellesu residence of leader and opened fire on our members, including our leader, Sheikh El-Zakzaky, and three of his children. More deaths were recorded there, in fact the death toll was four times more than what was recorded at Husseiniyya.
The two spokesmen of the group said El-Zakzaky had called some of the members shortly before soldiers picked him up, to tell them that he sustained bullet injuries in his eyes and in his right shoulder.
“He informed his only surviving son that he was bleeding profusely and that the corpses of his three sons: Hamad (18), Ali (16) and Humeid (13) were lying dead in front of him at the time the soldiers were shooting into his home,” said Abubakar, the Yola leader of the sect.
While addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, the Media Forum Secretary of the Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Abdulmumin Giwa, and Yola leader of the movement, Abdulrahman Abubakar, has itemised five conditions for possible truce, among them, the immediate release of their spiritual leader, Sheikh El-Zakzaky.
The group, which claimed that more than 300 of their members were shot dead during the Saturday and Sunday showdown, said they had incurred both human and material losses as a result of the clamp down on them by soldiers and could not even account for most of their corpses till date.
Presenting a catalogue of demands to the government of Nigeria, the embattled group’s leaders said:
“We want the army to hand over our leader, Sheikh El-Zakzaky, to us immediately for medical care. We ask the military to release all our arrested members. We ask for the army to stop molestation of our members; all corpses of our brothers and sisters killed by the army should be released for proper Islamic burial.
We want full compensation for the lives lost as well as our properties destroyed, and we want a full-scale investigation and prosecution of culprits involved in the killing of our members,” Giwa said.
Giwa also said that since the Saturday incident, their members have continued to suffer more deaths with the Tuesday incident when men of the Nigerian Police Mobile Force attacked their members and killed four.
“We had no premeditated plan to attack the chief of army staff as claimed by the army. On that fateful day when we were getting set to celebrate the Maulud of our holy prophet at the Husseiniyya prayer ground, the Nigerian Army came and stationed a detachment of soldiers there and the military presence created tension amongst our members.
Even when the COAS came to pass, there was no incident at all. But two hours later, soldiers came back and began to open fire on our members. More than 300 people were killed there.”
According to him, later in the night, the army went to Gellesu residence of leader and opened fire on our members, including our leader, Sheikh El-Zakzaky, and three of his children. More deaths were recorded there, in fact the death toll was four times more than what was recorded at Husseiniyya.
The two spokesmen of the group said El-Zakzaky had called some of the members shortly before soldiers picked him up, to tell them that he sustained bullet injuries in his eyes and in his right shoulder.
“He informed his only surviving son that he was bleeding profusely and that the corpses of his three sons: Hamad (18), Ali (16) and Humeid (13) were lying dead in front of him at the time the soldiers were shooting into his home,” said Abubakar, the Yola leader of the sect.
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