HRW: Nigerian Army Killed 300, Attack on Civilians ’Unjustified’

Local Editor

The Human Rights Watch stated that hundreds of Shi'ite Muslims were killed by soldiers and buried in mass graves in an "unjustified" attack in Zaria.

The New York-based rights watchdog stated this in a statement made available yesterday, claiming that soldiers killed "at least 300" members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria [IMN] earlier in December when they fired "without any provocation."

It further stated that witnesses said that the soldiers disposed of hundreds of bodies by throwing them in mass graves, making it difficult for the organization to establish an accurate death toll arising from the incident.

The violence had erupted on December 12 when members of the Shi'ite group erected a makeshift roadblock during a religious procession, blocking the path of the Chief of Army Staff [COAS], Gen Tukur Buratai Africa Director of the HRW, Daniel Bekele also said that, "It is almost impossible to see how a roadblock... could justify the killings of hundreds of people."

"At best it was a brutal overreaction and at worst it was a planned attack on the minority Shi'ite group" he continued.

But the Nigerian Army denied HRW's charges, saying that the allegations are baseless and unfounded.

Speaking on the matter, the Army spokesman, Sani Usman, told the Agence France Presse [AFP] that the "The allegations are not true. It is therefore presumptuous and clearly out of context for anyone to make such an unsubstantiated allegations or comments.

"The incident between the Nigerian army and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria has been reported to the appropriate agencies who are investigating the issue," Usman said.
The Nigerian army had accused the sect of "a deliberate attempt to assassinate Buratai.

But the National Human Rights Commission [NHRC] set up a five-man panel to investigate the incident while the Inspector -General of Police [IGP], Solomon Arase, promised that the police would conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and take necessary action.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team