Tag: Shi’ite

A Coalition of human rights organisations has urged the Federal Government to report the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations (UN) for trying to undermine Nigeria’s internal security by backing the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (Shi’ite).

Speaking at a news conference in Abuja, the coalition’s Convener/National President, Comrade Ibrahim Abubakar, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to expel the Iranian Ambassador, Saeed Koozechi, from Nigeria.

 He said the ambassador was making unguarded statements against the government.

Abubakar said: “We appeal to the media to consider national interest in their reports. It will be counter-productive to help a belligerent country destabilise our country. It is obvious the Iranian ambassador is counting on Nigeria’s liberal media environment to help spread fear and encourage insurgency.

‘’In his home country, no media organisation would have dared publish a story critical of the government, let alone stories that undermine Iran.”

Abubakar said: “Nigeria does not need a lecture from Iran on how to manage its internal affairs. Iran should put its house in order before lecturing another country on human rights and how to safeguard them’’.

Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, said yesterday the arrested Shi’ite sect leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zak-Zaky, is no longer in the custody of the Army.

Gen. Buratai spoke when met with a delegation from the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) at the Army Headquarters in Abuja.

The Army chief, who was responding to the request by NSCIA to meet with the sect leader, said El-Zak-Zaky had been handed over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.

He said: “As a responsible and law abiding organisation, we will do all that we can to always safeguard lives and property.

“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.

He dismissed claims in some quarters that the Army was after members of the sect.

He said that the army was only carrying out its constitutional duties.

He urged members of the public to disregard information and pictures contained in a section of the media, describing them as a false reflection of what happened.

Leader of the NSCIA team, Prof. Daud Noibi, said the group was at the Army headquarters on a fact-finding mission.

Noibi expressed the concerns of NSCIA on the Zaria incident and reaffirmed the commitment of the council to return peace to the area.

He appealed to the Army authorities to allow the delegation to meet with the arrested leader of the sect.

Noibi said the NSCIA would make efforts to douse the tension that had engulfed parts of the North following Saturday’s incident in Zaria.

He was accompanied by the Secretary General of the council, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede.

Members of the Shiite who arrived in Abuja in large numbers yesterday, demanded the release of their leader Sheik Ibraheem El-Zakzaky , who the Army said it is  holding in protective custody.

He was taken into custody after sustaining gunshot injuries during last weekend’s clash with soldiers in the convoy of Chief of Army Staff Gen. Tukur Buratai.

Some leaders of the sect told reporters that at a news conference in Abuja that they needed to give urgent medical attention to their leader. They urged the international community to put pressure on the Federal Government to release him to them and the remains of their members who died in the attack to enable them bury the dead in accordance with Islamic rites.

A leader of the sect in Adamawa State, Abdulrahman Abubakar said El-Zakyzaky had called to inform them that he received gun shots in his eyes and other parts of his body and did not know if he would survive the attack.

Abubakar said the attacks on their members took place in three different places and that the excuse by the Army that the attack was provoked by attack on the Chief of Army Staff was a barefaced lie.

He alleged the first attack on members of the movement took place two hours after the Chief of Army? Staff and his convoy had been allowed to pass. He further alleged that another attack at the residence of their leaders several kilometres from where the first attack took place, buttressed the claim that the attacks were premeditated.

The Secretary, Media Forum of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, ? Abdulmumin Giwa allged that the attacks took place for more than 27 hours.

“The soldiers came back two hours after the COAS had passed to unleash the terror. There is also an alternate route he could have passed,” he said.

He said the Army could not be a judge in their own case and called for an independent investigation.

The immediate past Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Dr Chidi Odinkalu expressed concern at the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to make a pronouncement on the issue even “though the president? was quick to condemn terror attacks in Paris.”

Members of the movement also demanded compensation for their destroyed property.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday sought investigation into the clash between soldiers and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, otherwise called the Shiite.

In a statement by its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, the congress said it was unacceptable that the Army would declare war of attrition against unarmed citizens.

The NLC said at a time when the country had lost lives and property, following insurgents’ activities, it must avoid further killings and destruction, adding that the poverty affecting the people was worsened by violence.