Hmm Iran has already digest down their grave by interfering in the army+Shiites quanter o
Iran has summoned Nigeria's charge
d'affaires to protest over the Nigeria
Army's deadly crackdown on pro-Iranian Shiites
in the north of the country, the official IRNA
news agency reported Tuesday.
The diplomat was told the foreign ministry on
Monday that Iran
''demands the Nigerian government immediately
shed light on the incidents, treat the injured, and
compensate for damages.'' IRNA said.
It said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
also called for ''immediate and serious action to
prevent violence'' against Shiites in a telephone
call to his Nigerian counterpart Geoffrey
Onyeama.
The Army clashed on Saturday and early Sunday
in the largely Sunni Muslim north with the
Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and arrested
its leader Ibrahim Zakzaky.
The IMN seeks to establish an Islamic state
through an Iranian-styled revolution.
''We have reports that bodies of our members
killed outside the house of our leader are being
evacuated in trucks by soldiers.'' IMN
spokesman Ibrahim Musa told AFP.
Musa said victims of the violence included
Zakzaky's wife, son and a former IMN
spokesman.
The violence was sparked when Shiite faithful on
Saturday blocked the main road outside their
prayer centre, where hundreds had gathered for
a ceremony.
The military claimed Shiites attacked a convoy
of the army chief, Yusuf Buratai, leaving soldiers
no option but to retaliate. The IMN, however,
denied the charge.
Nigerian troops on Monday evacuated the bodies
of Shiite Muslims killed in two days of clashes
with the army in northern Zaria, home base of a
pro-Iranian group, its spokesman and residents
said.
The Army carried out crackdowns on Saturday
and early Sunday against the Islamic Movement
of Nigeria (IMN) and have arrested its leader
Ibrahim Zakzaky.
''We have reports that bodies of our members
killed outside the house of our leader are being
evacuated in trucks by soldiers.'' IMN
spokesman Ibrahim Musa told AFP.
Musa also said Zakzaky had been arrested.
''Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky was arrested this
morning in his demolished home by soldiers
where he had been holed up in a room that was
spared from the fire that gutted the house from
grenades.'' He said.
The IMN, which seeks to establish an Islamic
state through an Iranian-styled revolution, has
been at loggerheads with Nigeria’s authorities,
leading to occasionally violent confrontations.
Zakzaky has periodically been incarcerated for
alleged incitement and subversion.
Northern Nigeria is majority Muslim and largely
Sunni.
Musa said the victims of the fighting included
his wife, son and the former IMN spokesman.
''We can't give a precise figure of the deaths
but it is huge given the number of the members
that answered the call to protect the house from
the invading soldiers.'' He said.
He said the group's leader had been unable to
leave the house ''because of the gunshot
wounds he sustained in the indiscriminate fire
soldiers opened on the house and his followers
who tried to protect it.'' He said.
''We gathered he was taken to Kaduna (70
kilometres, 45 miles away).We got in touch with
the medical doctor that is treating him who
confirmed to us that our leader is critically ill
from four gunshot wounds he sustained.'' He
said.
''He was shot at four times, this the doctor
confirmed.'' Musa told AFP.
Witnesses also spoke of soldiers removing
bodies around Zakzaky's house.
''This morning, soldiers started evacuating
corpses of followers of Zakzaky in trucks for
possible disposal.'' Resident Bashir Bello told
AFP.
''A large number of his followers were gunned
down around his house on Saturday through
Sunday morning where they had congregated to
protect the house from military invasion.'' He
said.
He said soldiers had mounted security checks as
residents and motorists were being searched
before entering the area.
The latest violence was sparked when Shiite
faithful on Saturday blocked the main road
outside their Husseiniyya religious centre, where
hundreds had gathered for a ceremony.
The military claimed Shiites attacked the convoy
of the army chief, Yusuf Buratai, which left
soldiers no option but to retaliate.
The group however denied the claim.
The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs
(NSCIA), the umbrella body for Muslims in the
country, on Monday called for restraint in the
government's response.
The NSCIA said Nigeria should not allow the
situation to degenerate into further Islamist
unrest.
''At a time Nigeria is facing serious challenges,
the least expected is a confrontation between
the Nigerian army and the Islamic Movement of
Nigeria.'' The group said in a statement.
The circumstances that led to the rise of Islamic
militancy in the past in Nigeria ''should not be
allowed to repeat'' themselves, it added.
Nigeria is fighting a six-year-old Boko Haram
insurgency that has killed some 17,000 people
and forced 2.6 million to flee their homes.
Iran has summoned Nigeria's charge
d'affaires to protest over the Nigeria
Army's deadly crackdown on pro-Iranian Shiites
in the north of the country, the official IRNA
news agency reported Tuesday.
The diplomat was told the foreign ministry on
Monday that Iran
''demands the Nigerian government immediately
shed light on the incidents, treat the injured, and
compensate for damages.'' IRNA said.
It said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
also called for ''immediate and serious action to
prevent violence'' against Shiites in a telephone
call to his Nigerian counterpart Geoffrey
Onyeama.
The Army clashed on Saturday and early Sunday
in the largely Sunni Muslim north with the
Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and arrested
its leader Ibrahim Zakzaky.
The IMN seeks to establish an Islamic state
through an Iranian-styled revolution.
''We have reports that bodies of our members
killed outside the house of our leader are being
evacuated in trucks by soldiers.'' IMN
spokesman Ibrahim Musa told AFP.
Musa said victims of the violence included
Zakzaky's wife, son and a former IMN
spokesman.
The violence was sparked when Shiite faithful on
Saturday blocked the main road outside their
prayer centre, where hundreds had gathered for
a ceremony.
The military claimed Shiites attacked a convoy
of the army chief, Yusuf Buratai, leaving soldiers
no option but to retaliate. The IMN, however,
denied the charge.
Nigerian troops on Monday evacuated the bodies
of Shiite Muslims killed in two days of clashes
with the army in northern Zaria, home base of a
pro-Iranian group, its spokesman and residents
said.
The Army carried out crackdowns on Saturday
and early Sunday against the Islamic Movement
of Nigeria (IMN) and have arrested its leader
Ibrahim Zakzaky.
''We have reports that bodies of our members
killed outside the house of our leader are being
evacuated in trucks by soldiers.'' IMN
spokesman Ibrahim Musa told AFP.
Musa also said Zakzaky had been arrested.
''Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky was arrested this
morning in his demolished home by soldiers
where he had been holed up in a room that was
spared from the fire that gutted the house from
grenades.'' He said.
The IMN, which seeks to establish an Islamic
state through an Iranian-styled revolution, has
been at loggerheads with Nigeria’s authorities,
leading to occasionally violent confrontations.
Zakzaky has periodically been incarcerated for
alleged incitement and subversion.
Northern Nigeria is majority Muslim and largely
Sunni.
Musa said the victims of the fighting included
his wife, son and the former IMN spokesman.
''We can't give a precise figure of the deaths
but it is huge given the number of the members
that answered the call to protect the house from
the invading soldiers.'' He said.
He said the group's leader had been unable to
leave the house ''because of the gunshot
wounds he sustained in the indiscriminate fire
soldiers opened on the house and his followers
who tried to protect it.'' He said.
''We gathered he was taken to Kaduna (70
kilometres, 45 miles away).We got in touch with
the medical doctor that is treating him who
confirmed to us that our leader is critically ill
from four gunshot wounds he sustained.'' He
said.
''He was shot at four times, this the doctor
confirmed.'' Musa told AFP.
Witnesses also spoke of soldiers removing
bodies around Zakzaky's house.
''This morning, soldiers started evacuating
corpses of followers of Zakzaky in trucks for
possible disposal.'' Resident Bashir Bello told
AFP.
''A large number of his followers were gunned
down around his house on Saturday through
Sunday morning where they had congregated to
protect the house from military invasion.'' He
said.
He said soldiers had mounted security checks as
residents and motorists were being searched
before entering the area.
The latest violence was sparked when Shiite
faithful on Saturday blocked the main road
outside their Husseiniyya religious centre, where
hundreds had gathered for a ceremony.
The military claimed Shiites attacked the convoy
of the army chief, Yusuf Buratai, which left
soldiers no option but to retaliate.
The group however denied the claim.
The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs
(NSCIA), the umbrella body for Muslims in the
country, on Monday called for restraint in the
government's response.
The NSCIA said Nigeria should not allow the
situation to degenerate into further Islamist
unrest.
''At a time Nigeria is facing serious challenges,
the least expected is a confrontation between
the Nigerian army and the Islamic Movement of
Nigeria.'' The group said in a statement.
The circumstances that led to the rise of Islamic
militancy in the past in Nigeria ''should not be
allowed to repeat'' themselves, it added.
Nigeria is fighting a six-year-old Boko Haram
insurgency that has killed some 17,000 people
and forced 2.6 million to flee their homes.
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