Emeka Ibemere
Before the bereaved leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, popularly
known as Shiites, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky considers going to court to seek
for justice in the murder of his three sons and 35 members of his movement,
after a procession in Zaria, Kaduna State, there are questions posed by a
security experts in the alleged murder of the group.
Last week, during the sect’s procession to mark the annual Quds day, it
was reported that the group clashed with soldiers at the popular PZ roundabout
in Kaduna which led to the death of the sons of the Shiites leader and four
others.
It was gathered that trouble started when the soldiers tried to disperse
a procession in Zaria, where members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria
denounced Israel’s aggression against the people of Gaza.
According to El-Zakzaky, the soldiers actually killed 35 of his
followers, including three of his children.
El-Zakzaky disclosed that during the melee, that there were 16 corpses
in their custody while nine other corpses were rushed to the Ahmadu Bello
University Teaching Hospital, also in Zaria, by the soldiers
“One of my sons, Mahmud, student
of Almustapha University, Beirut (Middle East) was shot in the abdomen and he
started bleeding. We tried to rush him to the hospital but the soldiers blocked
everywhere along the way and he bled to death”, El-Zakzaky said.
“The soldiers also arrested some people, including three of my sons,
they were taken alive but two of them were later killed.”
According to him, those killed were Ahmad, a Chemical Engineering
student at Shenyang University, China; and Hamid, an Aeronautical Engineering
student at Xian University, China. El-Zakzaky however said that another of his
sons, Ali, who was injured in the leg, was still alive.
“When we demanded for the release
of our people, the army refused and said that they would take them to the
Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital for medication not knowing that the
two had been killed. I want to assure you that these two children were
cold-bloodedly murdered because they were taken alive”.
For the former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav,
speaking on telephone interview with our correspondent said the soldiers were
reckless. The ex-Cop raised questions on the murder and called for an
independent investigation into the matter.
The human Rights activist and also a retired police boss, said the
shooting to death of 35 civilians including three undergraduate sons of El
-zakzaky in Zaire by some soldiers reminds him of the dark days when the
country was under military rule.
“Even then, no such number of civilians was killed in one swoop. This is
very sad and most unfortunate. It is alleged that the soldiers claimed that
they were attacked and acted in self-defense”, Tsav stated.
Speaking from his angle of police detective, Tsav quipped that the laws
of self defense requires that; “‘the force used should be proportionate to the
power threatened’”. The retired cop therefore queried.
“If truly the soldiers were threatened or attacked, who attacked them
and with what? Was any weapon of attack recovered from the mob? Is it the
responsibility of the military to regulate public procession? Did the soldiers
try to recover the weapons used against them? If so, where the weapons and who
are among the mob attacked the soldiers”?
Tsav therefore stated that in the absence of any evidence to sustain the
questions raised above, he saw the shooting as a case of unprovoked and
unjustifiable homicide by trigger -happy soldiers.
“The involvement of soldiers in duties constitutionally, meant for the
police shows how unserious our leaders are in this country. There are many
school levers roaming the streets without jobs. Our police are grossly
understaffed; the police colleges are lying fallow. Why can’t these school
levers be recruited and trained as police officers”?
He disclosed that the United Nations’ requirement was that for every
policeman, there should be four civilians but in Nigerian case, its 400
civilians for one police officer.
“We cannot meet this ratio in Nigeria with the present strength of our
police.
That is why it is necessary to recruit and train more policemen and
return soldiers to the barracks. Our troops have been doing very well in peace
keeping operations internationally but cannot rescue the Chibok girls”.
The controversial ex-cop further claimed that Nigerian soldiers are
overzealous and trigger -happy when it involves defenceless civilians and
during election duties.
“I appeal to the Federal Government to institute an independent
investigation into these callous and senseless killings. We have lost too much
blood in this country and its time for all to have a change of heart. Nigeria
has never had it so badly”, Tsav concluded.
Paul Okafor a security consultant for one of the private security
organisations along Opebi- Allen Road Ikeja blamed the soldiers for the attack
and wondered while soldiers should fire at a crowd on a procession not that
they were on protest on demonstrations. According to him, government and the
military authorities should investigate the matter and should not allow to be
swept under the carpet.
Okafor who quoted copiously of the law of self defence stated. “Quoting
from Wikipedia in his table, he stated. “Let me tell you, the traditional
customary rules on self-defence were derived from an early diplomatic incident
between the United States and the United Kingdom over the killing of one US
citizen engaged in an attack on Canada, then a British colony. The so-called
Caroline case established that there had to exist "a necessity of
self-defence, instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means, and no moment
of deliberation,' and furthermore that any action taken must be proportional”,
"Since the act justified by
the necessity of self-defence, must be limited by that necessity, and kept
clearly within it." These statements by the US Secretary of State to the
British authorities are accepted as an accurate description of the customary
right of self-defence.
“Were the soldiers who killed these kids in such situations highlighted
above”? He queried.
Ibraheem El-Zakzaky has said his
group would take the Federal Government to court over the killing of 35 of its
members including his three sons by the Nigerian military on July 25, 2014. The
spiritual leader stated that although his group was still aggrieved over the
ugly situation, they had taken it as a spiritual test of the group and its leader.
Describing Islam as a re¬ligion that preaches peace, El-Zakzaky, said
being a movement of peace, his organisation would never be provoked into taking
arms against the Nigerian state and its innocent citizens.
“The Islamic Movement of Nigeria is far too peace¬ful, mature and
organised to take the law into its hand to foment trouble”, he said. He
disclosed that rather than resort to violence, which could have fatal
con-sequences on the country, the group would take its case to the National
Hu¬man Rights Commission (NHRC) and other civil rights bodies for redress.
Also, El-Zakzaky further stated that his organisation would also seek legal
redress in court if necessary. Meanwhile, Defence spokesman, Chris Oluko¬lade,
a Major general said the military would investi¬gate the matter to establish
who was wrong as soldiers do not take delight in killing anybody. Mr. Olukolade
added, “The people from within that crowd shot at soldiers. We don’t want to be
drawn into any controversy. We are interested in ascertaining what really
happened.”
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