How it all began: Soldiers talking with the Shiites on Saturday 12 December

Amnesty International has published a new report on the killings of members of the Shiite minority sect in Zaria, Kaduna State, accusing the military of cover up. Amnesty frontally accused the military of killing hundreds of men, women and children last December.

But the military spokesman, Colonel Sani Usman has dismissed the report as hasty, one-sided and biased.

Amnesty’s report relates to events in Zaria when members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria blocked the road to be taken by the Chief of army staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai.

In the altercations that followed, the military claimed the Shiites wanted to assassinate the chief of army staff. Over 10 people were killed on 12 December, when this incident happened.

The following day the army said it had raided several buildings connected to the sect.

The mass grave where 347 shiite members were buried secretly in kaduna state

Amnesty said more than 350 people were believed to have been unlawfully killed by the military between December 12 and 14. Its report contains satellite images that it said appeared to show the location of a mass grave.

One witness, Yusuf, said soldiers set fire to a makeshift medical facility in the sect’s compound.

“Those who were badly injured and could not escape were burned alive,” he said, adding that he believed tens of people died in this way.

“It is clear that the military not only used unlawful and excessive force against men, women and children, unlawfully killing hundreds, but then made considerable efforts to try to cover-up these crimes,” said Netsanet Belay, an Amnesty director.

Amnesty said it carried out research in February 2016 during which 92 people were interviewed, including alleged victims and their relatives, eyewitnesses, lawyers and medical staff.

“It is clear that the military not only used unlawful and excessive force against men, women and children, unlawfully killing hundreds, but then made considerable efforts to try to cover-up these crimes,” said Netsanet Belay, an Amnesty director.

Colonel Sani Usman: Amnesty biased

“Our research, based on witness testimonies and analysis of satellite images, has located one possible mass grave,” he said.

Amnesty’s report — “Unearthing the truth: unlawful killings and mass cover-up in Zaria” — comes in the wake of conflicting claims about the violence in the northern city.

Two days of violence began on December 12 when IMN supporters of the pro-Iranian cleric Ibrahim Zakzaky attending a religious ceremony refused to allow the chief of army staff’s convoy to pass.

Amnesty said its investigations indicated the military acted “unlawfully” by shooting “indiscriminately” at unarmed protestors.

“It is not clear why the army launched such a ‘military operation’ in response to a law and order situation,” the report said.

 “The Nigerian military burned people alive, razed buildings and dumped victims’ bodies in mass graves.” Most of the evidence was “meticulously destroyed”, Amnesty said, accusing soldiers of trying to cover up the carnage by limiting access to conflict sites. “Bodies were taken away, sites were razed to the ground, the rubble removed, bloodstains washed off, and bullets and spent cartridges removed from the streets.”

 

“The Nigerian army has provided no evidence to substantiate its claim that IMN protesters attempted to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff.”

It added: “The Nigerian military burned people alive, razed buildings and dumped victims’ bodies in mass graves.”

Most of the evidence was “meticulously destroyed”, Amnesty said, accusing soldiers of trying to cover up the carnage by limiting access to conflict sites.

“Bodies were taken away, sites were razed to the ground, the rubble removed, bloodstains washed off, and bullets and spent cartridges removed from the streets.”

Soldiers sealed the areas around Zakzaky’s compound, which was destroyed, and the site of the street protests for several days.

Medical personnel at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital said the military cordoned off the area around the morgue for two days.

Last week Amnesty called for an investigation after a Kaduna state official told an inquiry into the clashes that the military secretly buried 347 people in mass graves.

The inquiry has the power to impose fines and payment of compensation. In January, the army chief of staff told the inquiry that his soldiers had acted appropriately in the raid.

Nigerian army spokesman Sani Usman said the Amnesty report lacked credibility. “It is a hasty, one-sided and biased report aimed at arriving at a predetermined objective, he said.

“They must allow the inquiry and all other relevant agencies to complete and submit their reports before jumping to conclusions,” he added.

Most of the tens of millions of Muslims in Nigeria are Sunni, including Boko Haram militants who have killed thousands in bombings and shootings, mainly in the northeast, since 2009.

Africa’s most populous nation has around 180 million people, including several thousand Shi’ite Muslims whose movement was inspired by the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Shi’ite Iran.