Zaria Quds Day massacre: We still demand justice – Shaikh Zakzaky

Ahlul Bayt News Agency - A year on after the brutal massacre of peaceful protesters during the International Quds Day in Zaria last year, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria has reiterated its demand for justice by bring the culprits to book.

Nigerian soldiers had on July 25, 2014 tortured and shot dead in cold blood 34 brothers and sisters, including 3 sons of Shaikh Zakzaky at the close of the Quds Day procession in Zaria. A Christian gentleman was among the dead, while another Christian woman survived with injuries.

After this year’s Quds Day procession, Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria His Eminence Shaikh Ibraheem Zakzaky (H) at the end of daily Tafsir at Hussainiyyah Baqiyyatullah, Zaria called on the government to as a matter of justice and fair play arraign and punish perpetrators of last year’s Quds Day killings in Zaria.

He argued that, only a lawless society can accommodate known and identified murderers and criminals, while freely boasting of their atrocities at the same time parading themselves as security officers of the country without any remorse.

“To this day none of these people have been questioned or interrogated. If a criminal can execute heinous crimes, boast of it and be left parading as security officer, then there is no law in this country”, he added.

Shaikh Zakzaky further said, “These people must be punished. That is all we want. Whether the government does it or not, this is our demand”.

He pointed out that, the fact that former president Goodluck Jonathan called him 24 days after to say “sorry”, was not just enough. “Jonathan sent 64 soldiers to Zaria for the job and we have their names and all those complicit, including the Emirate that supported them, who were partners in the crime. We have all the record”.

His Eminence demanded that by law, those who killed must be killed, as they deliberately identified the victims, especially his three children, and killed them after severe torture. “This is not accidental discharge, it is deliberate and intentional. Similarly, those partners in the crime must be punished according to degree of their offence. This is all we want from the government”.

Commenting on this year’s Quds Day commemoration, Shaikh Zakzaky said the event has been instituted and come to stay and posed a challenge that similar procession by supporters of Israeli and its atrocities should also be organized. “Everyone has equal right to support a chosen cause. You have no right to stop another from expressing support for his own cause”.

He said, this year’s event was observed in more than 770 cities around the world, including Nigeria, and that all those survivor of last year’s brutality including his surviving sons with the one whose leg was shattered with bullets, as well as their mother participated in the procession.

According to him, the fact that the procession ended peacefully indicated that what happened last was pure criminality with no justification.

“Our mass presence at this year’s Quds Day commemoration indicated our resolve and commitment on the path, and we will continue on that!”




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