Islamic Group, Shiites condemn military for releasing just two for burial

Members of the Islamic group, Shiites, have condemned the military for releasing only two bodies amongst several of their disciples that lost their lives following the clash with soldiers in Zaria for burial, since the bloody confrontation, last December. In a statement by the spokesman of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) yesterday, Mallam Ibrahim Musa said, “Out of the 1000 plus brothers and sisters of the Islamic Movement killed by the military in Zaria, only two bodies have been released for burial, the second one was buried on Thursday”. Musa, who gave the name of the victim as Idris Khalid, explained that he was buried according to Islamic rites at Tudun Wada cemetery ground in Kaduna with hundreds of people in attendance. According to him, he was “shot and fatally wounded when the military opened fire on brothers of the Islamic Movement at Sheikh Zakzaky’s residence in Gyallesu, Zaria” “Though he didn’t die immediately, he was among those arrested by the army and handed over to the police in Kaduna. However, after three days in police custody, he was pronounced dead, most probably due to lack of medical attention, and his body was held in custody since then”.

Musa said: “Idris Khalid, a native of Duhu village in Katsina, died leaving three wives, but no children. Human Rights watch, an international human rights group is reported to have said that over 300 people were killed by the military in Zaria between 12-14 December 2015”. Besides, the Shiites spokesman argued, “the military has been disputing the number of people that died, with the Chief of army staff, Lt. Gen. Buratai telling National Human Rights commission in Abuja that only seven people were killed”. “The Islamic Movement in Nigeria has published a list of almost a thousand people who have been declared missing since the army’s pogrom in Zaria, and among its demands is that the army should hand over the corpses of those it killed to their relatives for proper Islamic burial, though there are reports that most of them have been burnt by the military and others buried in mass graves around Kaduna”.