The Nigerian military has commenced investigation into the circumstances that led to the killing of 35 members of the Muslim Shiite sect who were on a peaceful protest in Zaria, Kaduna state, against Israeli’s operation in Gaza. The Defense Headquarters’ statement released by the spokesman, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said the inquiry became necessary to calm the situation in Zaria.
The statement said that while not downplaying the significance of such incident, it was also necessary to ensure that sufficient information was obtained beginning from the unit level and other reliable sources at the location”.
It said that a preliminary investigation had been conducted to unravel the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident.
The report of the preliminary investigation at the unit level has vehemently contradicted some of the issues raised by the leader of the group, the statement said.
In his statement, especially on the allegation of extra judicial killings, the higher headquarters is conducting additional investigation on the incident to ascertain the claims in the preliminary reports from the unit level, it added.
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