SaharaReporters just learned that Nigerian soldiers may have killed a wife and a son of Nigeria’s foremost Shiite leader, Sheik Ibraheem Zakzaky, in an ongoing military operation against the sect in Zaria, Kaduna State. Ibrahim Musa, President of the Media Forum of Islamic Movement of Nigeria, disclosed the killings in a statement released today. SaharaReporters was unable to independently confirm the news and a conversation with one of his sons who didn’t want to be named shows the Shia Sheik and his wife are still alive.
Mr. Musa also claimed that the military destroyed the sect’s headquarters as well as the residence of the Shiite leader. According to him, Sheik Zakzaky’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Mr. Musa and another member of the sect, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declared that Nigerian troops were engaged in indiscriminate killing of members of the Islamic sect, with its headquarters in Zaria. They stated that soldiers had killed some prominent members of the Shiite sect as well as followers. Among the reported casualties were the leader of the group’s Kano Center, Sheikh Muhammad Turi, Mustapha Sa’eed, Ibrahim Usman, and a major female member, Jummai Gilima.
According to Mr. Musa’s statement, “The sporadic killings took place at three different locations that include the residence of the revered leader of the Movement at Gyallesu, the Husainiyya Bakiyatullah at the GRA and the Darur Rahma located along Zaria-Jos Road where many [unarmed] people were killed.
“The killing was so brutal at Gyallesu that even those injured in the shooting were identified and killed in cold blood by the soldiers. And as at the time of writing this press release, the victims run into their hundreds, if not thousands.
“Considering the gross violation of fundamental human rights and extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the Nigerian Army, the Islamic Movement hereby condemns these unjustifiable acts.”
