How did we get here?
The Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), a group that is popularly known as Shia or Shi’ites, was revived and brought to limelight in Nigeria in the 1980s, under the leadership of Sheikh Ibraheem El Zakzaky.
Though Iran is the world’s headquarters of the Shia Muslims, in Nigeria the religious headquarters is in Zaria, Kaduna state, with members spread across many states of the North.
It would be recalled that there have series crises involving members of this group and security forces in recent memory. During the reign of the Late General Sani Abacha as Head of State, there was a bloody confrontation between security forces and the Shia Muslims, which eventually led to the detention of the leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El Zakzaky, for more than a year. Though the democratic government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo freed him, there were pockets of clashes with security forces during his administration. Many Shi’ites including three of Sheikh Zakzaky’s sons were allegedly killed by soldiers in Zaria in 2014. Unfortunately, the group allegedly violated the right of movement of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, in 2015, and it was a rain of blood as many of them were killed and their Husseiniyya worship centre, at PZ, Zaria, was demolished. Since then, Zakzaky has been in detention for alleged incitement and subversion.
Consequently, members of the IMN have on a daily basis carried out ‘free El Zakzaky’ protests in Abuja, Kaduna and other parts of the country, some of which led to loss of lives. A resident of Zaria, who does not want his name in print, said: “The Shi’ites are very loyal to their leader, El Zakzaky, who had on many occasions directed them to trek for many kilometres. They are well known for road blockages, intimidation and harassment of residents of Zaria, in Kaduna state.”
Like Boko Haram, like Shi’ites
Speaking on the activities of the Shia Muslims, a security and terrorism expert, Dr. Amaechi Nwokolo, warned that the Nigeria and her security forces need to be careful not to create another insurgent group out of the Shi’ites.
He said: “The way and manner that our security forces have responded to the Shi’ites protests is not the way it should be handled. A lot need to be done for our security forces; there is need for more training on ways of managing violent protests. There is need for us to respect the democratic disposition that gives room to anyone who has one or two reasons to protest. There shouldn’t have been deployment of military personnel at all. If it was the police, they know the modalities of handling protests like this and better ways to manage conflicts. They should have spoken with the leadership of the group and/or used other restrictive mechanisms like tear-gas to disperse them.”
According to him, they also played into the hand of the group by detaining their leaders even after the court had asked that “he should be released.”
He also expressed concern that “this could lead to another Boko Haram insurgency; it is very possible, especially with their links.”
“It may interest you to know that Shi’ites have linkage with Iran, Syria and Lebanon. And one of the ideologies of this group, just like Book Haram, is to create a geographical State. If you look at how Book Haram transformed into an insurgent group, as a result of excessive use of force, which can agitate the people, government needs to be very careful in handling these people.”
Shi’ites defiant
The Shia Muslims insist that the leader Zakzaky must be released. One of the group’s media officials, Abbdullahi Muhammed Musa, said they will never stop protesting, no matter how many of them are killed, until their leader El Zakzaky is released.
According to him, “the problem is not between we, the Shi’ites, and the security forces, but it is the President that has problem with us; we can tell you that from what happened in the past few days.”
He said: “You see, in the last Presidential Media chat, the President disclosed that he was not aware of the Zaria massacre. It is known to the public through a press release that the Guard Brigade was sent after us; they about 36 of our members, over 170 people sustained various injuries. And it was the same guard brigade that opened fired on us before everybody. And you are aware that the Guard Brigade is answerable to the President. Therefore, it was the President that ordered the massacre of Nigerian citizens. So, we have no problem with security forces, but the President.
“Nigerians should know that this government is an administration of oppression. They are oppressing us and the reason they are killing us is because we stand against their oppression. They are doing all these in order to put fear into Nigerians, so that tomorrow nobody will hallenge them. So, I am calling on Nigerians to speak out against this government of oppression. Today, it is Shi’ites, tomorrow it could be any other person (s).”
He added: “The government should also know that killing can never stop s from doing what we are doing; we are practising religion the way we understand it and it is our constitutional responsibility. There is no part of the Nigerian constitution that says if you are the President of the country everyone must believe in your ideology. There is no part that gives the President directive to kill anyone who practises any other religion. They accused us or road blocking, which we didn’t do. Even if one blocks the road, so killing is the next thing?
“The only way out of this problem is for the government to free our leader; if they continue to kill us it will not solve the problem. We will continue to protest until the federal government frees our leader. If they will have to kill us, we will continue to come out.
Over 2,000 members have been killed by security forces. Over 1, 000 of our members are missing right now.
“Our group is a peaceful group, contrary to claims by security personnel; we have never taken arms against anybody. The security forces want to push us to start taking arms, but we will never do that. Because we are not train to kill, Islamic Movement of Nigeria is a peaceful Islamic group that is aimed at saving lives.
“The only solution is to free El Zakzaky, he has committed no offence by law. Otherwise, they will continue killing us and we will continue coming out and the whole world will be watching. But they should also know that the law will certainly catch up with anybody involved in this killing.”
Proxy war
Speaking on Channels TV flagship programme, Sunrise Daily on the Shi’ites/Army Clash, a legal practitioner, Jiti Ogunye, noted that the army and the nation’s security forces seem to be fighting a proxy war; that is between the Sunnis in Saudi Arabia and the Shi’ites in Nigeria.
He said: “It is another sad day for Nigeria that we have to discussed the needless casualties that are been recorded in our country today, as a result of clashes between the military, law enforcement agencies and the ordinary citizens. Since 2019, Nigeria has been fighting a war in the north-east of the country, the anti-Book Haram war. And that war has affected this country in many ways, we were told that the war is been gradually fading out, but in recent times there have been so much terrifying occurrences in the North-east. This suggests that the Book Haram is still clashing with security forces, military stations and inflicting loses on our military.
“We salute the courage of our military; we appreciate what they are doing to protect us, because one of the greatest sacrifices you can offer as a citizen is to stick your life in defence of your country.
However, what is the larger picture that is driving these clashes, which may continue for a very long time? This is because you cannot eliminate or terminate the Shi’ites movement in Nigeria. They are a religious minority in the northern part of the country and you cannot kill all of them. So, the prospect is that these clashes will survive the Buhari administration and another will become the President of the country and then may have to deal with the situation.”
He added: “In December 2015, something terrible happened between the Shi’ites and the Nigerian military, and in that incident 347 Nigerians were slaughtered. These are not my figures, they are the figures established by panel of enquiry that was put in place in the aftermath of that bloodletting. It started from insisting on the right of way by the highest command of the military, which then led to a crisis. The footages were shown – the deviant posture of the Shi’ites members who are daring the military and thereafter there was mayhem. After then, the military moved into the dwellings of the members of this Movement and demolished them. So, how did those dwellings obstruct the right of way of the military high command? Thereafter, the leader Sheikh El Zakzaky was arrested alongside his wife in a state of injury and was detained.”
He stressed that: “The way out is that people known for bringing parties together in Nigeria, they know themselves – whether they are Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, JNI, CAN and others, should tell Mr. President that we need to help your administration. So, there is need to broker peace and it is the duty of the government to create that avenue.”
Army reacts
In a reaction to the violent activities of the Shia Muslims, the Commander, Army Headquarters Garrison, Maj.-Gen. James Myam, in a statement blamed the Shi’ites for the confrontation.
He said troops of Army Headquarters Garrison were on official duty escorting ammunition and missiles from Abuja to Army Central Ammunition Depot in Kaduna when they were attacked by the Shi’ites at Zuba Bridge in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at about 3pm on Saturday, October 17, 2018.
The statement read in part: “Members of the sect used various objects to barricade the road and also pelted the troops with stones and other dangerous items. They smashed both military and civilian vehicles’ windscreens and windows. They also attempted to overrun the escorts to cart away the ammunition and missiles the troops were escorting. This led to the troops opening fire to extricate themselves. Consequently, troops of 102 Guards Battalion in whose area of responsibility the incident occurred rushed to the convoy’s rescue. Unfortunately, during the encounter three members of the sect were killed while two soldiers sustained various degrees of injury and are being treated at a military medical facility.”
The commander warned that “no individual or persons would be allowed to disturb public peace and provoke attacks against military convoys.”
Rule of law
Reacting over the continued detention of the Shi’ites leader, former first Assistant General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olatunji Salawu, described the El-Zakzaky incident as “unfortunate,” arguing that there is possibility that the State is merely exercising some discretions based on available facts.
Salawu, who was part of a fact-finding mission in Zaria after the sects clashed with the military during the tenure of Augustine Alegeh, a former NBA chairman, told Blueprint Weekend that he would not be quick to fault government’s actions, saying that despite court pronouncement, the executive also has responsibilities as a responsible government to weigh the consequences of their actions.
Salawu said: “Whatever happens in a society, the rulers are held accountable, especially in the area of security provisions. Many people may not really understand this; yes, there is freedom of association, religion and other rights as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but these are also rights that are subject to the rights of other people.
“As it were, the El-Zakzaky issue is a complex one in the sense that he is a religious leader who enjoys cult followership amongst his people, who are ready to die because of their belief. The workability of the rule of law depends on a peaceful society and a secured nation.
“No matter your faith, you do not have the rights to block highways, but that soldiers reacted the way they did is an infringement, and that is what a State will always suffer being a protector of collective interest of individuals.
In his view, Barrister Obinna Ekezie argues that having been granted bail by a court of law, and if El-Zakzaky has been able to meet the bail conditions, government should do what the law says by obeying court orders.
He said: “As a lawyer, the long and short of it is that I believe in the rule of law. If the court has granted him bail and he has been able to meet the bail conditions, I would enjoin the government to do what the court of law says.
“But, if on the other hand the court has granted him bail, and he has been unable to fulfill those bail conditions, then he will remain in custody; there are no two ways about it.
Continuing, he said: “As for the skirmishes between the Shi’ite Movement and soldiers or security agents as the case may be, the thing is that the law allows the security agents to use reasonable force to restrain anybody trying to cause breakdown of law and order.
“So, if you are doing a protest and the security agents come to you and say look, ‘stop there,’ there are still lots of avenue open to Nigerians to seek redress rather than result to violence. If you do, whatever you get, you bargained for it.
US speaks on skirmishes
In its reaction, the United States has called for investigation into the clash between the Shi’ites and security operatives in areas surrounding Abuja.
In a statement on Thursday, the United States says it is concerned about the effect of violence that has rocked the nation’s capital for three days.
“The United States Embassy is concerned by the deaths resulting from clashes between Nigerian security forces and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria in the Abuja axis.
“We urge the Government of Nigeria authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the events and take appropriate action to hold accountable those responsible for violations of the Nigerian law. We urge restraint on all sides,” the statement read.
