Nigeria Military Killed Hundreds of Shiites: Activists
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Activists said Tuesday Nigeria's military has killed hundreds of, perhaps as many as 1,000, Shiite Muslims in what the country's top human rights protector is calling "a massacre."
Chidi Odinkalu of the Nigerian Human Rights Commission posted photos on social media showing a bulldozer tearing apart a shrine of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and said detained leader Ibraheem Zakzaky's home also was destroyed.
Odinkalu says Zakzaky suffered four bullet wounds and one of his wives was killed in raids that began Saturday and ended Monday morning, the Associated Press reported.
"Citizens must ask who ordered this carnage?" Odinkalu tweeted.
On Sunday, the army raided several buildings connected to the Islamic Movement and the home of Zakzaky. Nigerian forces also arrested top Shiite cleric after carrying out a deadly raid on his private residence in the country’s northern region, rights activists said.
Authorities have accused the Islamic Movement of having tried to assassinate the Nigerian army chief. The movement has vehemently denied the claim.
Aliy, Zakzaky’s son, was among dozens who lost their life in the raid.
Three of Mr. Zakzaky’s sons had been killed in a similar attack by the Nigerian Army in July 2014.
