Ahlul Bayt News Agency - The Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, said on Thursday that the arrested Shi'ite leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zak-Zaky, is no longer in the custody of the Army.
Buratai, who ordered the soldiers to kill hundreds of unarmed Shiite of the Islamic Movement last week in Zaria, said this when he met with a delegation from the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) at the Army Headquarters, Abuja.
The Army chief, who was responding to the request by NSCIA to meet with the Shiite leader, said that El-Zakzaky had been handed over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.
According to Buratai, lawlessness! must not be tolerated in the society especially when a part of the country is confronted with terrorism.
"As for the whereabouts of the Shi'ite leader, he is not in our custody; he has been handed over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution because we don't prosecute.
"What happened was avoidable and unfortunate, we followed the rules of engagement as enshrined in the constitution but what happened still happened," he said.
The Law Is the Answer, Not Massacres !!!
What happened in Zaria where in the end over a hundred lives were lost by noon yesterday is very disturbing, unfortunate and stands condemned by any civilized person.
"I have earlier condemned in very strong terms all religious leaders who break the law, inflict untold hardship on the public and generate crises that lead to loss of lives. I hope religious leaders will take heed and allow us some breathing space. Obedience to law, as I said then, is a fundamental requisite of peace even among animals", Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde.
The option for anyone who does not recognise the authority of his or her country is either to fight it, as Boko Haram has done, or migrate to where he thinks is better for him. But to remain under the political umbrella of a nation, disobey its laws and think that nothing will happen is a mere fallacy. Our religious leaders and their followers can migrate to Iran - if they are Shi'ites, or to Saudi Arabia - if they are Wahabis or Salafis, or to Senegal or Baghdad - if they are sufis, once they are not satisfied with the laws that will ensure the peace we need to live and practice our religion as much as we can. Let them let us, we Nigerians, alone. We want peace.
More deplorable, however, is how the Nigerian authorities react to citizen conflicts. The gun, to the military and the police, is the answer. Only a barbarian can think and act so. In any civilisation, the sanctity of life is supreme and it must not be violated except through legitimate legal recourse. The law has laid down procedures for handling any form of crime in manners that conform to equitable ethical standards. To violate the law in pursuing its purpose is a greater crime than the offence the agent purports to stop.
On this, the act of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) on whose behalf yesterday's atrocities were committed, is a violation of the law, worse than the recalcitrant behaviour of the Shi'ites that I earlier condemned. By God, whoever pulls the trigger on any of our citizens at the slightest provocation is not our soldier. He is an animal. Simple and clear. He does not deserve to be on our payroll. He does not deserve to be entrusted with the noble profession of the military, whoever he may be. A noble soldier derives pleasure in respecting the law and its citizens, not in their death.
While we Nigerians intensify efforts to call our religious leaders to order such that they accord better respect to the fundamental rights of citizens, our noble President must call his COAS to order. The culprits that massacred armless Nigerians last week in Zaria must be brought to book. Otherwise, the Lord above does not go to sleep. He is awake and busy, every time. He will revenge for the innocent.
Family of Sheikh Zakzaky: Unclear If He is Dead or Unwell
In a recent phone conversation with the son of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, we learned that Mr. Zakzaky’s family has not spoken directly to him since his arrest on Sunday.
Ibrahim al-Zakzaky’s son says his family has not been able to contact the Nigerian Shia leader since his arrest by the country’s forces earlier in the week.
According to the son, Mr. Zakzaky’s family does not know about his current medical condition and want him to see a doctor immediately. The family has not even been able to speak to any officials who have had direct contact with Mr. Zakzaky. Instead, the son informed that a military official assured the family that their patriarch is “safe and well”.
“We are concerned [Mr. Zakzaky may not be alive]. We want a doctor to speak to him who we can trust,” New York-based news agency Sahara Reporters, which tracks developments in Nigeria, cited the son as saying in a Thursday report.
The news agency also said that Zakzaky's family has not been able to speak to any officials who have had contact with the Shia cleric.
The son is the only one of Mr. Zakzaky’s children not currently jailed or dead. The son told that 3 of his brothers were reportedly killed and, therefore, he is Mr. Zakaky’s last remaining son.
Senator asks Nigeria's Buhari to order full Investigation over Zaria Shia Massacre; Military action untenable, intolerable
Senator Shehu Sanni representing Kaduna Central has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to launch a full scale investigation into the killings of Shiite Islamic Movement Shiites by Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna state.
The Nigerian Army had admitted on Monday that its men, on Saturday, shot dead members of the Shiites Muslims in Zaria, Kaduna State.
In statement issued on Tuesday by Senator Sani who expressed dissatisfaction with the killings of the Shiite Muslims in Zaria disclosed that the right to life and human dignity is a foundation upon which all other rights stand.
He stated that the attacks on the homes and members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria is nothing but an indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force by the Military adding that "silence and neutrality to this amounts to nothing but aiding and abetting a clear and undisguised abuse of fundamental human rights."
Senator Sani said, "Nigeria as a democratic state and must learn to balance its security exigencies with the need to observe and uphold its constitutional and moral obligation to fundamental human rights of its Citizens.
“Any excuse to circumvent human rights, is a step towards tyranny.
Northern Nigeria have in the last seven years been neck deep in violence and soaked in blood, opening a new front will not augur well for the peace and stability of Nigeria.
"The Zaria killings simply affirmed the fact that as a nation we have not learnt our lessons from our painful and hard experience. “The action of the military is untenable, intolerable and unacceptable and has a serious repercussion to our global image, perception and moral standing. "In the light of our recent experiences, it's in the best security interest of our nation to encourage and support religious groups to operate openly. “The Islamic movement and their leader have repeatedly denounced terrorism and insurgency. Zaria killing was an avoidable tragedy.
“The use of force must always be the last resort and not the first resort and must be done within the principles of internationally best practices of rules of engagement. "We have a duty as patriots to support our military to protect and defend our country, but it must be held to account within the permissible line of morality and the law. “Those who are in support of the Zaria killings are giving a helping hand to arbitrariness and spitting on a fundamental right that may be used against them someday. “The enduring spirit of a democratic state is upholding its moral values and achieving its goals.
“Our ultimate goal of restoring peace and order in our country must not be at the expense of sacrificing those very principles that distinctively separate us from those oppose to our democratic values."
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