The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) otherwise called Shiite has cautioned the Nigerian Army to stop using its name to cover up its alleged atrocities. This is coming at the heels of the alleged killing of innocent civilians in Sokoto by airmen of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on 20 October, 2019.
This was made known to newsmen in a press statement signed by the President Media Forum of the Islamic Movement, Ibrahim Musa on Tuesday.
The Islamic Movement said the NAF killings in Sokoto should be of concern to everybody because it could happen to anybody.
“In as much as the victims involved are not of the Islamic movement, we wish to condemn this act of impunity and extra judicial killing implemented by the military and draw the attention of Nigerians in particular and the world at large to a dangerous trend they have introduced whereby uniformed men can kill anybody at will and claim that they thought he or she was Shi’ite,” the statement said.
The statement added that following an incident that took place at Mabera area of Sokoto town, Sokoto state, where military men of the Nigerian Air force allegedly murdered a mother of seven and a young man for teasing the girlfriend of an officer and in attempt to cover up for the crime, the military men claimed they thought their victims were members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria.
“We find it pertinent to dissociate the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and its members from the misleading claims of the military men and all forms of crimes whatsoever. Media reports say eye witnesses claimed the crisis began when a lady, said to be the girlfriend of an officer, was teased by young people in the area which led the lady informing her Nigerian Air force officer boyfriend of what transpired. The officer was reportedly said to have deployed a truckload of Air force personnel to Mabera area who trailed a young aspiring student, Abdulsalam Lawan, who took refuge in a nearby house, killing him and a 40-year-old mother of seven, Maryam Abdulrahman on 20/10/2019.
“It is in attempt to cover this act of irresponsibility and brutality and sweep it under the carpet, perpetrated by the Nigerian military that the military informed newsmen that they thought their victims were members of the Islamic Movement.
“In as much as the victims involved are not of the Islamic movement, we wish to condemn this act of impunity and extra judicial killing implemented by the military and draw the attention of Nigerians in particular and the world at large to a dangerous trend they have introduced whereby uniformed men can kill anybody at will and claim that they thought he or she was Shi’ite,” the sect said.
The IMN called on members of the public to insist that justice should not only be done by prosecuting the officers involved but to also be seen to have been done, even though the Sokoto state government has intervened. It said that this dangerous act of anarchy and lawlessness perpetrated by the military must not be condoned.
“In the recent past since the Zaria Massacre where the Nigerian Army killed over 1000 men, women and children and gave a flimsy excuse for the genocide, on several occasions, they have engaged in the killing of innocent unarmed members of the Islamic movement and gave false claims to justify it,” the statement added.
