A spokesman for the group said they were at the offices of the commission to demand justice for the innocent victims of military brutality who were killed as they engaged in a peaceful procession to celebrate Quds Day in Zaria. “The soldiers deliberately opened fire on our members, killing 34 of them. It is almost six months now since the incident occurred and the government has done nothing to bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book,” said the spokesman. “That’s why we are here to formally make our complaint to the human rights commission,” he added.
A hundred days after Nigerian soldiers reportedly massacred 34 members of a Zaria-based Islamic group, the Academic Forum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (AFIMIN) today arrived in Abuja to stage a protest and demand justice.
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Among those murdered by Nigerian troops in Zaria, Kaduna State on July 24, 2014 were three biological children of a famous Islamic scholar, Sheik Ibrahim Zakzaky.
Hundreds of protesting AFIMIN members today stormed the Abuja headquarters of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The protesters included women and children with placards that read, “We demand Justice,” “Is this Democracy?” “We Say No to Injustice,” “Is this Fresh Air?” and “We condemn Jonathan’s attempt to kill Sheik Zakzaky.”
A spokesman for the group said they were at the offices of the commission to demand justice for the innocent victims of military brutality who were killed as they engaged in a peaceful procession to celebrate Quds Day in Zaria. “The soldiers deliberately opened fire on our members, killing 34 of them. It is almost six months now since the incident occurred and the government has done nothing to bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book,” said the spokesman. “That’s why we are here to formally make our complaint to the human rights commission,” he added.
The protesters described the indifference of the Goodluck Jonathan government to the extra-judicial killings as disturbing. “The Nigerian Army said that they would conduct an investigation into the matter. Since last year, they have not come up with any report to justify or condemn the actions of the perpetrators of the act,” said another protester.
Unable to hold back their emotions, some of the protesters shed tears as they held up banners that had the images of the victims.
Nigerian soldiers fired at a procession of members of the Islamic sect as they processed after Jumaat prayers in Zaria, killing 34 of them, including three sons of the sect’s leader as well as a few women and children.