… Army assures of probe, el-Rufai calls for calm

From Ismail Omipidan, Kaduna, Akeeb Alarape and Desmond Mgboh, Kano

THE clash between members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, otherwise known as Shi’ite group, and soldiers, which started on Saturday, has now claimed hundreds of lives, it was gathered yester­day.

Daily Sun investigation re­vealed that soldiers allegedly killed the wife and son of the leader of the group in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim Yakubu El- Zakzaky, including his sec­ond in command, Sheik Mu­hammad Turi. Although, no formal statement had been is­sued, it was gathered that the leader of the group may have been arrested by the army.

It was also gathered that Zaria had, since midnight of Sunday, been on fire, as mem­bers of the group from other parts of the country regrouped to rally round their leader af­ter Saturday’s clash.

It was further gathered that, soldiers, on getting an alert of the sect members’ regroup­ing, mobilised and surround­ed El-Zakzaky’s residence at Gyallesu area of Zaria and allegedly shot sporadically at anyone who either moved in or out of the residence.

The sect, in a statement yesterday, said wife of its leader, Malama Zeenat Ibra­heem Zakzaky, his son, Aliyu Ibraheem Zakzaky, the sect leader in Kano and Turi, the spokesman of the group, Malam Ibrahim Usman and one Dr. Mustapha Sa’eed were among those killed by soldiers.

The statement, signed by the President of Media Fo­rum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Malam Ibrahim Musa.said “the claim by the Army that members of the movement attempted to as­sassinate the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai was a blatant lie as the army came back to launch their attack more than an hour after the COAS had passed.

“Clearly, the Nigerian gov­ernment, through its military, is now on rampage, in an all-out war with the Islamic movement, its members and structures. The scale of this attack, would suggest, was meticulously planned by au­thorities and now being ex­ecuted ruthlessly. The alleged attack on COAS Burutai was just an alibi. In the mean­time, there is no idea as to the whereabouts of the leader of the movement, Sayyid Ibra­heem Zakzaky nor his cur­rent condition, and aggrieved members of the movement across the country have taken to the streets in condemnatory protests” the statement said.

In a related development, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has called for calm, in the face of pro­test by members of the group, within Kaduna metropolis.

Spokesman of the gov­ernor, Samuel Aruwan, in a statement, said el-Rufai has visited Zaria town where sol­diers and Shi’ite clashed. Aru­wan confirmed that the gover­nor, who appealed for calm, has spoken with the Shiites leader on phone and met with Buratai in Zaria on Sunday.

As at the time of filing this report, reports from Zaria in­dicated that, the soldiers have, allegedly levelled Gyallesu residence of El-Zakzaky. In a related development, The Army has assured that the unfortunate incident, would be investigated and nipped in the bud.

A statement by the Acting Director of Army Public Re­lations, Col. Sani Usman, de­scribed the clash as unfortu­nate and assured that it would not be overlooked.

Usman decried the tenden­cy of Shiite members to sub­ject members of the public to unwarranted inconvenience anytime they are on proces­sion.

-Sun