The Nigerian army attacked two religious centers of the country's Shiite community on Saturday, killing hundreds of defenseless civilians there. A few hours later on Sunday, the military arrested Leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky after raiding his house and killing his son, assistants and followers.
Addressing a large and fervent congregation of the people on Tehran University campus on Friday, Ayatollah Khatami said, "The crimes are too terrible to describe, the figures are not precise, but I can surely say that hundreds of Shiite Muslims have been killed in the Nigerian army's crimes."
He said that the Nigerian army should know that it has committed horrendous crime and it has helped Takfiri and Wahhabi groups.
On Tuesday, Iranian protesters gathered in front of the Nigerian embassy in Tehran and in front of the UN office in Mashhad to condemn the mass killing of the Shiite Muslims by the Nigerian army.
On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Nigeria's charge d'affaires in Tehran over the massacre of the Shiite Muslims in Zaria city, Kaduna State.
The Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Nigerian envoy to voice Tehran's serious concern over the incident.
At the meeting, Head of the foreign ministry's first office for African affairs condemned the Nigerian army attack on the Shiite community as unacceptable, and reiterated the Nigerian government's responsibility for protecting the lives of the Shiites and religious centers, specially the Islamic Movement of Nigeria.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran seriously demands clarification of the dimensions of the incident, treatment of the wounded people and compensation of the damages incurred at the earliest," the Iranian diplomat said.
The Nigerian charge d'affaires, for his part, said that he would inform his government of Iran's concern and provide Tehran with a response.
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