Another devastating violence broke out on Monday in Karu, a densely populated suburb in the southeast of Abuja.
Witnesses told Premium Times that at least 16 people were killed in the fracas, with scores wounded after Shi’ite protesters attempted to break a barricade of Nigerian soldiers around the flyover in Karu.
While some of the deceased died after being rammed by cars driven by panic drivers, most of them were hit by the soldiers’ bullets, which they reportedly rained on the protesters and passersby indiscriminately, witnesses said.
“They have killed about 16 to 22 people,” a witness in the neighbourhood told Premium Times reporter yesterday evening.
“Bodies are everywhere, they are everywhere without anyone even attempting to evacuate them,” the source further revealed.
The witness further alleged that soldiers were responsible for most of the deaths, attributing only about four to persons rammed by speeding vehicles or an elderly woman who fell and hit her head against the median while scampering for safety.
“Yes, the soldiers were killing the people, they said they wanted to break their barricade near the overhead bridge in Karu,” another witness said, adding that “I cannot say how many people were killed, but they are so many and bodies still on the main road and streets.”
The witness also said the protesters were not armed with guns and live ammunition, saying “only the soldiers were carrying guns.”
The first witness told Premium Times about three dead bodies that were taken to a Muslim burial ground in Karu were rejected because they were suspected as being Shi’ite members.
“They were taken there to bury as Muslims, but the people in charge said they cannot be buried because they were not Muslims, they were Shi’ites,” the witness said.
The killings came two days after troops opened fire during a Shi’ite procession in Zuba, another suburb of Abuja, on Saturday afternoon.
The military denied being the aggressor in the violence, which left nearly a dozen protesters dead.
The Army said its personnel conveying military equipment were waylaid by the protesters, during which some soldiers were brutalised with stones and sharp objects. No soldier was killed during the encounter.
The Nigerian Army and Defence Headquarters did not immediately return Premium Times’ requests for comments about the latest killings in Karu on Monday night.
Defiant sect plans more protests
Notwithstanding the loss of lives, the Shi’ites have vowed to continue their protest within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The group began an annual arbaeen trek across parts of the country on Thursday, but clashed with the Army in Zuba, Abuja on Saturday.
While the army claims three Shi’ite members were killed, a spokesperson for the group in Abuja, Ibrahim Musa said the figure “is twice what the Nigerian army has confirmed”.
“Six of our members were killed by the army on Saturday. I can confirm that. They even planned doing the same thing to us today but the place where they set their road block; we didn’t reach it,” Musa said.
“The names of our brothers killed by Army at Zuba on Saturday are: Abdu-aziz Dahiru Maigana Zariya, Mika’il Shuaibu Katina, Rabiu Malumfashi, Sa’idu Khalid Lagos, Abu-Dajjana Ibrahim Manzo Suleja and Ukasha Isa Madlla.
“We plan to continue tomorrow. Although we heard that they are prepared to kill us at will, but if they like, let them shoot, we will continue,” Musa said.
The group was outlawed by the government after a clash with the army, led to the killing of over 300 of its members in 2015.
A leader of the group, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, has been in prison since December, 2015 over the issue.
Although a Federal High Court ordered El-Zazaky’s release, the Nigerian government appealed the ruling and has filed murder charges against El-Zakzaky.
The group has consistently demanded the release of the prominent cleric through street protests, which has led to violent clashes in the Federal Capital Territory and parts of the North.
