Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), popularly called the Shi’ites, have said they will not stop their agitation against injustice in Nigeria.
The IMN members spoke yesterday during the commemoration of the eighth year of the killing of 34 of their colleagues, including three sons of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, allegedly by the military.
The movement said it would ensure that those who killed its members do not go unpunished.
It said its members would continue to fight against all forms of injustice against humanity.
Addressing reporters at the graveyard of the 34 IMN members yesterday in Zaria, Kaduna State, a disciple of El-Zakzaky, Sheikh Abdulhamid Bello said the Quds’ Day procession had become an annual event.
On July 24, 2014, there was a clash between members of the Shi’ite group and a detachment of the Nigerian Army, where three of the sons of Sheikh El-Zakzaky and 31 others, including an Igbo man, were reportedly killed by soldiers.
Bello said IMN members were blocking the road during their peaceful possession and soldiers allegedly opened fire on them, killing the 34 people and injuring several others.
“Today, we are remembering those who were killed in that unwarranted attack that led to the killing of our brothers, including three biological sons of our leader, Sheihk El-Zakzaky. We are using this medium to send a message to the oppressors that those who have carried out such attack and injustice will not go unpunished.
“The government of Kaduna State even admitted to carrying out the burial in a mass grave of over 370 of our members who were killed in 2015. You can imagine such manner of injustice.
“So, that is what we are fighting, and we will not relent until justice is achieved. Our goal is to achieve mass revolution against Injustice,” he said.
Some of the survivors of the 2014 Quds’ Day killings who sustained several bullet wounds on their legs recounted their ordeals which they described as unforgettable.
Mojaid Umar Musa and Yahusa Ibrahim, who said they had to undergo operations to remove the bullets shot at their legs, said they did not provoke the military during the procession to warrant the shooting.
The duo said added: “Thirty-three of our members, who were part of the procession, including three biological children of our leader, were killed on that faithful day. One Igbo man, called Julius Onwaiwu, was also killed for asking the Army for the unwarranted killing on that day.”