Our attention has been drawn to a video clip going round which purportedly proves Nigerian Army’s evidence of innocence in the on going Zaria and recently added Kaduna massacre and wish to state the following:
1) That the video does not show what started the whole episode, which was when suddenly the members of the movement present at the HusainiyyaBaqiyyatullah noticed trucks of soldiers dropped at the NNPC filling Station directly opposite the Hussainiyyah.
2) This attracted the attention of the members of the movement and they came out of the center and a few went to them asking them their motive of being there because from experience when ever this happens the next thing they would hear is gun shots from all direction. The soldiers told them that their motive was to give protection to their leader against the members of the movement’s possible attack.
3) The members of the movement told them that there was no need for that as no body has ever been prevented from passing there except for the necessary process of traffic control. So they asked them to move away from there to prevent any untoward happening, but the soldiers insisted.
4) As a result of the initial dialogue, the soldiers agreed and relocated to PHCN yard opposite Post Office junction. But ironically on reaching there they blocked the Sokoto road at two points-the one at the said Post office and MTD junctions respectively.
5) The next they notice was that actually the soldiers were not only at the twojunctions,disallowingaccesstothefrontagetothe Hussainiyyah but were everywhere including at the back of the Facility and they all came with extra supplies of munitions in many boxes. This is when the brothers became sure that the soldiers were on a mission with sinister intentions. So they started saying the Takbir and seeking Allah’s help.
6) Then came the advance party of the said COAS convoy approaching with their APCs and some troops on trucks. When they reached the point on the video with brothers at this time fully agitated and shouting Takbirs because of past experiences, some brothers approached the commander based on his request and the seen dialogue ensued.
7) It could be seen that some members were trying to pacify those already charged to calm down and move back and the commander telling the troops who were already kneeling down to take firing position to hold their fire. We are still trying to find out who were thepeople carrying cutlasses and other local weapons because they are not really brothers as the Sheikh himself already opined during an interview with the BBC. If it were something arranged the weapons would have been seen with all or many of the members present in the video. Our opinion is hat those people were agentsofinfiltrationpurposely posted to ignite the fire of the Well-Planned carnage.
8) From the video one could hear some of the members saying that unless the Sheikh’ssonsend word to them to they would not allowanybodytopass.
9) One would have expected that at this juncture the Army should have contacted the movement hierarchy or the Sheikh himself as he had given them his number and those of the commanders of the paramilitary wing of the movement at a peace meeting after the last episode when the army killed 34 members including his 3 children, in case of need for coordination on any issue. Instead of this approach, the next thing the members heard was fire from all directions.
10) At this point the convoy passed after killing several people among those seen on the video. Having passed, one would have expected that that was all. But instead, the troops camped there and continued to shoot at any body in sight. Others were drafted to the house of the Sheikh where many members were stationed as well as the site of our burial ground called Daral-Rahma and proceeded to kill any body in site at this places except few that they arrested, most of them already fatally wounded. The shooting continued for more than 30 hrs.
11) After all the carnage, they were not done yet, they proceeded to demolish all the buildings in these 3 locations as well as refused to allow access for the dead and the wounded to be evacuated for proper burial and treatment as the case may be. This continued even after they arrested the Sheikh himself and his wife after wounding them and getting at least two of their children killed again.
12) As we write this piece we are aware that most of those killed have been taken to specific supposedly hiddenlocations late in the night where they have been given mass burial, some were also burned at various locations, all in effort to cover up what has been done. Themediaandothernationalandinternationalareawareandfollowingthewholeunfortunateeventanddocumentingevery detail with evidences of the their actions. And again, if human miss anything, God Almighty Who is ever present everywhere would not miss it. They will all find their full records with Him on the Day of Judgment. May be they don’t believe in it. But that doesn’t mean it shall not come to pass.
13) In conclusion for now, we can only observe that this is the same treatment that has been meted to us in the 37 years that this movement has so far existed from various governments, Military and Civilian, as well as from other Groups, all in the attempt to silence us and make us toe the line. But by Allah’s grace, after each episode we have become stronger and we have seen the end, one way or the other, of the perpetrators of these types of actions. We would God willing, outlive this too, because power belongs to Almighty God and on Him alone we depend for protection, and He alone we fear.
Peace be on those who follow God’s guidance.