Harun Elbinawi writes on the #ZariaMassacre, a genocide carried out against the Shi’ite sect in Zaria in Kaduna by the Nigerian Army under the command of Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai in December 2016.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he #ZariaMassacre is a household name today not only in Nigeria but the world over.
Whoever is conscious of daily news event especially as relates to Africa is aware of the brutal massacre of 1000+ defenseless and unarmed civilians by the Nigerian army that took place in December 2016 in the Northern Nigerian city of Zaria. One of the prominent features of the #ZariaMassacre as reported by the London-based human rights organization, Amnesty International, in their comprehensive report on the massacre “#ZariaMassacre: Unearthing the Truth” was that the perpetrators did everything possible to destroy all physical evidences of the inhuman massacre.
From washing all the blood spilled, to picked all the shells and bomb shells, to disposing the dead bodies by burying them in mass graves, to destruction of the physical structures that were attacked and bombed by the Nigerian army and to massive propaganda campaigns embarked by the Nigerian government using proxies such as the Nigerian army and the several Saudi-sponsored Wahhabi fronts in Nigeria.
Despite all the efforts mentioned above the #ZariaMassacre refused to just go away and be forgotten and be buried with its victims who were brutally slaughtered by an army that was suppose to protect them. The Nigerian army Chief Lt Gen Tukur Buratai who was the spark of the massacre then claimed that “Shiites want to assassinate him”. Seven (7) months after the massacre the Nigerian government have not charge anybody with ” trying to assassinate Buratai “. Even the 191 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) who survived the pogrom with various gunshot wounds and were imprisoned and charged to court using trump-up charges, none of them was charged with “trying to assassinate Buratai”.
The Buratai ” assassination attempt” was the monumental fraud used by the Nigerian government and President Buhari to justify the brutal murder of 1000+ Nigerian civilians just to execute a foreign imperialist agenda that has the Saudi regime as a front. There was never any assassination attempt on Buratai and that is why the Nigerian regime has not charge anybody to court for that as there is no proof to such allegation. The same Buratai is today facing damning corruption allegations of diverting funds meant to fund the Boko Haram insurgency and bought choice properties in Nigerian and Dubai, UAE.
After the brutal massacre of its members, fatally wounding its leader and his wife and the destruction of its properties, IMN took the civilize path of peaceful protest, public enlightenment of the massacre and taking its cases to Courts to seek redress for the monumental injustice done against it. The Court cases are on two fronts, the first was to refer the massacre to the International Criminal Court, ICC, that is headquartered at the Huge, Netherlands.
Since the kangaroo commission that was instituted by Governor Nasir El Rufai is not credible, impartial and independent. The second batch of court cases was in Nigeria where IMN and Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky took various Nigerian agencies that are responsible for his abduction and detention to enforce his fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.
One of such courts is the Federal High Court 6, Abuja, under Justice Gabriel Kolawole. Despite foot-dragging by agencies of the Nigerian government, the court had held three sittings so far and in yesterday’s (13/07/2016) sitting that failed to hold due to the absence of the legal counsels of the agencies, Justice Gabriel Kolawole said that he heard there will be an “out of court settlement” on the Issue. The leading legal Counsel of Sheikh Zakzaky, Femi Falana (SAN), quickly denied any knowledge of that.
While responding to questions from journalist after the court session, Femi Falana (SAN) stated that there is no such thing as “out of court settlement” and called for the immediate and unconditional release of his client. He further stated that “his client was attacked by the Nigerian Army in his residence, killed three of his sons, shot him and his wife severally, burned down his house and took him away asking what is there to be settled.”
It is important to note that the “out of court settlement” is another gimmick by the Nigerian regime to deceive people that it wanted a peaceful settlement on the issue and to shield the masterminds and executors of the inhuman massacre from prosecution. There will be no “out of court settlement” on the #ZariaMassacre as those who murdered 1000+ unarmed Nigerians, dumped their remains in mass graves and committed heinous war crimes must be prosecuted in competent courts of law.
The #ZariaMassacre was a foreign-sponsored agenda and until now the Nigerian regime is still executing that evil agenda by sponsoring a faceless money-mongering “Shia” group that does not have one thousand people on its membership list to launch smear campaigns of calumny and demonization against the personality of Sheikh Zakzaky and IMN.
These hoodlums even when to the extent of excommunicating Sheikh Zakzaky from Shia Islam to serve the unfolding agenda of their pay masters who are mass-murderers. This recently activated campaigns is in addition to the on going Nigerian regime’s sponsorship of various Wahhabi/Salafi groups in anti-Shia propaganda and hate-mongering.
The recent meeting of the Nigerian Army chief, General Buratai with these Wahhabi groups in Gusau, Zamfara state with the Wahhabi deputy governor of Zamfara State, Mr. Wakkala in attendance is part of this agenda.
On a final note, IMN is not part of any “out of court settlement” with those who slaughtered 1000+ Nigerian civilians in less than 48 hours and dumped their dead bodies in at least two mass graves. The families of the victims of the massacre demand for justice and so also the humanity with conscience also demand for justice.
Harun Elbinawi owns a blog, Elbinawi. He can be reached by email HERE.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
