What happened:
Now
that the Shiite-Army fracas has twisted to all-comers reports and analysis;
sundry visuals and audios; sentimental commentaries and pathetic dirges, it is
now cumulatively difficult to differentiate who was actually wrong from who was
right. Different blame game is now trending in both online social media and
traditional news media with each commentator holding the side of dismantling
hatred or sentimental judgment on the incidence.
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| COAS escorts noticed negotiating their passage with the Shiite members |
Three days ago, a video clip
of about nine minutes playing duration surfaced the online media and went viral
suddenly via YouTube. This video clip exposes how the throng of Shiite Islamic
Movement of Nigeria blocked a major road in Zaria, leading to the palace of the
supreme traditional ruler of the Zazzau Emirate. Zaria as a city is strange in
metropolitan setting as compared to other cities in Nigeria. It is only in the
city of Zaria one gets to know that there is a different between the town of
Zaria and the city of Zaria. It is an uncommon knowledge to get to a particular
town, and after you have the believe that you in the town, you hear a
metropolitan bus yelling the same name of the town, seeking passengers, heading
to a particular direction within the town. This is the case of Zaria. A
stranger who just arrived the town through the different entry/exit routes of
Kwagila, Gyellesu, Dan Magaji etc, would be astonished to hear the voice of a
bus conductor screaming Zaria! Zaria! Zaria!, in the same town of Zaria. You
would be forced to ask, ‘where is the other Zaria?’
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| Army attempt to arrest Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky |
From historic facts, the
main city of Zaria was secured with a surrounding wall fence. This was an
ancient maximum security strategy to prevent the city from serial external
invasions by enemies. Some mythological narrations had related the construction
of this wall security history with the reign of historic Queen Amina but, many historians
are recently considering the story unrealistic. The whole history of the heroic queen is recently considered a ‘typical myth’, although the people with ancient
facts still believe her story of existence is real and not a myth.
The ancient wall is what
made the part of the Zaria metropolis a ‘City’, while the other part is ‘Town’.
The ancient town that was protected with the erection of wall fence, is what is
now regarded as Zaria City. Places like Tudun-Wada, Sabon-gari, Samaru, Kongo,
Gyellesu, Basawa etc, are just the part of Zaria considered the ‘town’ but not
the ‘city’. The ‘city’ is where the Emir of Zazzau (the supreme traditional
ruler) lives and the Emir Palace is domiciled there too. Also, almost every Islamic
leader or famous Islamic scholar in the Zaria metropolis, resides in Zaria City. As well noted,
prominent names as the late Sheikh Albali Zaria, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, Alhaji
Shehu Idris etc, have their residence in the ancient city called Zaria City. And for a prominent
or political figure to visit or pay homage to anybody of communal or societal
relevance in the metropolis of Zaria, they must have to come to Zaria City to
do such. This was the mission of the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Buratai, on the
ill-fated day of Saturday December the
12th, 2015.
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| Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, Islamic Movement of Nigeria leader |
According to reports, the
COAS was either on his way or returning from the homage to Emir of Zazzau (that is, Emir of Zaria)
after a successful procession of the Passing Out Parade (POP) of newly trained
soldiers at the Nigerian Army Depot, Zaria. On his way with his entourage in a
convoy, they encountered a waylay from the Shiite Muslims who were on their
annually ritual celebration of the arrival of the month of Rabbi Awwal (the
third month of the Islamic calendar which the Holy Prophet Muhammad was born).
They barricaded the motorway thereby denying any vehicular passage. Even with
the blazing sirens from the military convoy could not deter their action. After
some delays and denials, some officers alighted from the vehicles of the COAS
convoy to plead for passage. The throng of Shiite Muslims, which was predominantly
youths refused to bulge or hearken to the plea by the Army officers who spoke
to them in Hausa language. Several plea attempts were made to make them clear
the motorway, though a pervaded video clip showed they were unarmed, yet they
denied the COAS passage. They emphatically told the Army convoy to reverse and
go back!
The nine minutes video did
not show the aggressiveness from either side, which warranted the shootings and
bloodbath that ensued thereafter by soldiers. Some unconfirmed reports had it
that some of the Shiite Muslims had certain weapons. Some claimed their only
weapons were sticks, catapults, cutlass etc. They were not reported to have had
with them weapons like rifles, pistols, AK47 etc, yet, it is still a baffling
and confusing to understand why the soldiers had to kill many of the group members in a
supposedly avoidable bloodbath. Up till this moment of writing this report, the
clear antecedence and precedence that gingered the bloodbath that occurred
after the motorway rancour and the subsequent killings of Sunday the 13th
December, is still ambiguous. What led to the soldiers going to the residence
of the leader of the Shiite Muslims on Sunday to arrest him, is still murky.
What motivated the Shiite youths to a standoff with the military men to deny
them access to their leader, is still gloomy. Why the soldiers decided to shoot
and kill civilians numbering hundreds in the manner as they did, is still unclear.
How they arrested the leader of Shiite Muslims, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky together with his wife, is still looming in the clouds. Even the position and
where-about of the Shiites leader presently, is still beyond the comprehension
of the hoi polloi...
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| At the heat of the fracas at Sheikh Zakzaky's house |
Suggested Tactics of Aversion:
On a contrary view to the
bloodbath incidence, many commentators and reporters have suggested that the
army officers, who carried out the tremendous shootings and killings of the
Shiites, could have used an alternative channel to avert the several lives that
were lost. We have seen such similar incidence in other climes where ‘black
armour’ otherwise known as rubber bullets were used to solve such fracas
situation. This is the suggestion of the different commentators in Nigeria who
have commented on this issue of killings otherwise currently termed as 'massacre'. While people believed that the soldiers
might have been angered to warrant their unconditional hostility on the Shiites sect, it is still
in the courtesy and value of humanity to save or protect lives. In a democratic
setting especially, brutality and incessant bloodbath is alien as these are
symbols or signs of dictatorship, tyranny, authoritarianism or anarchy. If the
army had wished for some accolades or eulogy from the public, they could have
used the black armour to wedge the prowess of the Shiites instead of the live
armour they used to send many young people to their early graves.
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