4 Shares 0



4

0







Nigerian Forces brutally crashed the house of the Leader of the Islamic movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky, on Sunday, committing a massacre which left at least 300 people killed, with the fate of Sheikh al-Zakzaky yet unknown.

Activists and locals report that a large number of forces crashed al-Zakzaky’s residence, destroying it and killing many locals around the residence who were trying to defend the cleric, and afterwards arresting the cleric and his wife by force.

Among those killed were the second in command to al-Zakzaky, Shekh Muhammad Turi, and the group’s spokesman, Ibrahim Usman.

The fate of al-Zakzaky’s son, with claims of him being among the dead, remains unknown, with a Head in the Army in the Kaduna division, Maj Gen Oyebado, not confirming his death nor denying it.

The fate of the Cleric also remains unknown as the Army Forces remain silent about the issue.

However, it has been declared that the wife of al-Zakzaky is still alive, denying earlier reports about her being killed throughout the clashes, according to BBC.

This movement, with the leadership of sheikh al-Zakzaky, is considered the main movement of Shias in Nigeria.

Just a day earlier, on Saturday, Army troops opened fire on people attending a ceremony in Huseyniyye Baqiyatullah, in the country’s city of Zaria, Kaduna State, killing 15 people.

Authorities accused the Shia cleric of trying to assassinate the Nigerian Chief of Army, on the premise that the people around the religious center stopped the convoy of the Chief of Army’s staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, as the cleric was planning a speech.

The movement said that the accusations were baseless since the members who stopped the convoy were unarmed. It further explained that the gathering was for a ceremony at their Husainiyyah base, to change the flag on the dome of the building to herald the beginning of the month of Rabiul /Auwal- the birth month of the Prophet of Islam, Prophet Muhammad.

“Any excuse given by the military as a reason for besieging the Hussainiyyah and firing for hours, leading to the death of a yet unspecified number of people, is considered the lie of the decade,” the movement has been reported to say.

The Cleric in turn strongly denied the accusations. However, the Army Forces crashed into his residence for forced arrest the next morning.

Details of what happened Saturday remain unclear with the army and the members of the IMN giving different accounts of the clash.

Both the house of al-Zakzaky as well as the Hussayniyyah was damaged by the Nigerian forces.

Shias in Nigeria have been victims of multiple attacks by the Nigerian Army, and by the Takfiri miltiant group, Boko Haram.

On the 27th of last month, Boko Haram declared responsibility of a bomb attack which targeted the Nigerian Shia during an annual religious procession in the northern state of Kano. The bomb attack had left 20 people dead.

The Nigerian army had also targeted the Shia in the country on August, last year, in a pro-Palestinian demonstration condemning Israeli attacks on Palestinians. In those attacks, three of Sheikh al-Zakzaky’s sons were killed.