Who will save the Shiites from state aggression?

BY AMIR BAGWANJE

Barely a year ago, by the admission of Kaduna state government, some 350 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) also known as Shiite were summarily executed by the Nigerian Army in Zaria on the allegations that they blocked the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff and that they attempted to assassinate him. Five of the sons of Sheikh Zakzaky were killed and one of his wives was reportedly killed as well.

The government of Kaduna state instituted a Commission of Inquiry into the Zaria massacre and the findings of the Commission indicted both the Security agencies and the IMN and called for the prosecution of the Officers that superintended the overkill as well as the leader of the Movement, Sheik Zakzaky and his members. Since then, hundreds of members of the movement have already been charged to court and their leader, Sheik Zakzaky is being kept incommunicado in a detention without trial but no single soldier or security personnel indicted by the report has been charged even as President Buhari promised to take action when the report is ready.

The Amnesty International and the National Human Rights Commission have since condemned this military highhandedness and called for the prosecution of the perpetrators. Well, President Buhari, Governor el-Rufai have inexplicably remained silent since publication of this report. No single military officer has been prosecuted so far. The Kaduna governor, even went further to ban IMN in his state. Whether ban on a largely peaceful religious group is legal is another matter.

Emboldened by the crass disregard for the lives of the Shiites by the Nigerian authorities, some time in October, the same Shites were subjected to random killing, harassment and their houses and places of worship destroyed by unprovoked youths across the north. I don’t have the exact statistics of the casualties in this particular round of misplaced aggression but many Shiites were killed and maimed.

As if the Shiite suddenly become an unwanted specie which poses a great danger to humanity, they were yet again exposed to free-for all shoot to kill in Kano early November on Arbaeen day which they observe every year by trekking from all over the country to their HQ in Zaria. In this incident, it is reported that not less than 50 of the Shiites including an eight-month old baby were demonstrably killed by the Nigerian Police. Knowing the appalling record of human right of the Nigerian security agencies, one may not be entirely surprised by these excesses. What boggles my mind however, is the deafening silence from the top Islamic echelon that’s supposed to protect the right of Muslims irrespective of persuasion or affiliation- the Jamaatu Nasril Islam and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. Their silence on the plight of the Nigerian Shiite speaks volume. The Sultan of Sokoto is silent, the emir of Kano is mute and above all President Buhari’s silence gives tacit approval to this naked injustice.

My concern primarily is defense of the dignity of human person. Contrary to what some Sunni folks believe, you don’t have to belong to the Shiite or even a Muslim for that matter to speak against injustice. I’m a proud Sunni Muslim myself and I have irreconcilable disagreement with the Shiite doctrine but at the same time, I see Shiites and every other religious group as human being first who were created and loved by God before any other consideration. It is rather interesting that the latest Kano onslaught in early November against the Shiites coincide with an invitation to the International Criminal Court to Nigeria’s Attorney General to come and answer questions on the Zaria massacre of December 2015.

Nigeria is facing the most severe national security threats in it is 56 years of history. Our security agencies would do better if they focus more on the threat pose by Boko Haram, Killer herdsmen, kidnapers, militants and other armed criminals. We can not pretend to have forgotten in a hurry the genesis of the Boko Haram bloody campaign in the north east. Thousands of lives and limbs were lost and are still being lost till today. The Shiite must not be pushed to the extent of rebellion. God forbid!

Perhaps the Shiite group too needs to be reminded that they don’t live in a fantasy republic of theirs where they can operate without recourse to the constitution. Nigeria is a sovereign State and the Shiites must abide by her regular laws. What’s clear is that the Shiites, in the course of carrying out their activities seem to infringe on people’s right especially on the high streets but this infringement should not warrant the kind of brutal crack down against them. Certainly the Nigerian constitution doesn’t support the killing of citizens for committing what is clearly a civil offense.

Bagwanje is based in London. He can be reached via Email: [email protected]