#ZariaMassacre: Chief IPO fingers Army in killing of Corporal Dankaduna
The Chief Investigating Police Officer, Chief Superintendent of Police, Ibrahim Abdul, of the Nigeria Police who led the investigating team of Police that investigated the Zaria incident in December 2015 has placed the blame in respect of the alleged killing of Cpl Dankaduna on the doorsteps of the Nigerian army.
Over 200 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria have been in Prison Custody since December 2015 while standing trial before the Hon. Justice David Nyom of the High Court of Kaduna State allegedly for killing Cpl. Dankaduna and for other sundry offences.
At the resumed sitting of the Court on the 10th of October 2017, the Prosecution led by the Director of Public Prosecution of Kaduna State, Mr. Dari Bayero put CSP Ibrahim Abdul in the box as the prosecution’s 43rd witness.
Under cross examination, Counsel to the Defendants, Mr. Maxwell Kyon Esq., asked the Chief Investigating Police Officer whether the Army had informed him at the point of showing him the corpse of Cpl. Dankaduna that the said Cpl. Dankaduna died as a result of “friendly fire.”
The Chief IPO responded by saying that the Nigerian Army had indeed suggested to him at the time when he went to see the corpse of Cpl. Dankaduna in the morgue at the 44 Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna that the Cpl. was killed as a result of “friendly fire.”
This new information completely changes the entire color of the case against the members of the Movement, who are standing trial before the Kaduna High Court for allegedly killing the same Cpl. Dankaduna, who from Abdul’s testimony obviously met his end from the barrel of the gun of his colleague, another soldier.
Still under cross examination the same CSP Ibrahim Abdul conceded that he never went to Zaria to investigate what actually happened on those fateful days in December, 2015 when over 347 members of the Movement were killed as the Nigerian Army viciously attacked multiple religious sites of the Movement.
He stated that all he did was take delivery of the exhibits handed over to the police by the Nigerian Army and the suspects were brought along with the said exhibits.
According to the CSP, ” I didn’t have the time to go to Zaria to investigate the incident, so I simply made do with the information supplied to me by the Nigerian Army.”
In another development, the Pathologist, rtd Col. Ayuba, who conducted the post mortem examination on the corpse of Cpl Dankaduna said he was asked to carryout the post mortem on the 13th of December, 2015 and that he met the corpse in the morgue of 44 Army Reference Hospital Kaduna already “partially decomposed.” He agreed with the defense lawyers that it was possible that the said corpse might have died earlier than the stated date given.
Col Ayuba said there was no way he could tell who might have killed Cpl Dankaduna because “I am not there.” He said he has only summoned to carry out the post mortem exam, which he did and reported. All the background information was as he was given by the Nigerian army, he said.
Further hearing has been fixed for 9th and 10th January, 2018 during which time the prosecution is expected to close its case and defense lawyers to open their defense.
*©FreeZakzaky Campaign Committee, October 2017*
