The ‘failed attempt’ on General Buratai’s life
Who do you believe?--#Snitchlady
Sheik Ibraheem Zakzaky, 62, the ever turbaned, tough looking leader of the Shiite Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, is an Islamic scholar and a tempestuous preacher. He speaks straight to the powers-that-be and has survived many jail terms in the hands of military governments in the ‘80s and ‘90s for sedition. Never hiding his hatred for Israel and the United States, he lost three sons and 35 followers after a pro-Palestinian protest with the military on July 25, 2014 in Zaria, Kaduna State turned bloody. And penultimate Saturday night, gunfire and occasional explosions kept residents of Gyelesu area of Zaria nervously awake in their homes.
An estate, which housed Zakzaky – a first class graduate of economics from the Ahmadu Bello University (I979) – had been condoned off by soldiers, and was the theatre of the gun battle.
Even in the gust of the cold, dusty harmattan, residents in high rise buildings around the area claimed that a peep through the window showed battle ready soldiers taking position with their weapons, spitting fire into the large compound where Zakzaky, his household and hundreds of followers were holed up.
It was not clear if the embattled Shiite Muslims were firing back at the troops, since both sides later gave contradicting accounts. But, residents, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, claimed to have heard piercing screaming of women and children, with men barking out orders from the compound. The battle went on, right through the night and continued after day-break, until Sunday.
Zaria, an old Hausa city, with a blend of ancient homes and modern buildings, located on the south-most fringe of the Sahel in Kaduna State, had experienced a violent encounter between the Nigerian Army and the IMN the previous day (Saturday).
Video clips show a group of people, some of them wielding clubs, machetes and knives, refusing armed soldiers passage on a major road. An unidentified Brigadier General and his men emerge, vehemently pleading with the leaders of the group to leave the road, but to no avail. Objects are thrown at the soldiers as they try to navigate the unruly situation. Suddenly, the crowd, which also has some women, becomes riotous.
The clips then show scenes of burning tyres and cleared barricades on a street but, this time, deserted. The clips are the evidence of a resolvable issue that later became ugly, leading to the siege on the compound of Zakzaky that Sunday night.
That penultimate Saturday evening, the Nigeria Army and the Shiite Muslims had traded blames over the afternoon confrontation between soldiers and the sect.
COAS escaped assassination from Shiites – Army
A statement by Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, Acting Director, Army Public Relations, issued, in Abuja, read: “The Shiite sect, on the orders of their leader, Ibrahim El-Zak zaky, today afternoon, in Zaria. attacked the convoy of the Chief of the Army Staff, while on his way to pay homage to the Emir of Zazzau and attend the Passing Out Parade of 73 Regular Recruits Intake of Depot Nigerian Army, Zaria.
Sheik Ibraheem Zakzaky, 62, the ever turbaned, tough looking leader of the Shiite Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, is an Islamic scholar and a tempestuous preacher. He speaks straight to the powers-that-be and has survived many jail terms in the hands of military governments in the ‘80s and ‘90s for sedition. Never hiding his hatred for Israel and the United States, he lost three sons and 35 followers after a pro-Palestinian protest with the military on July 25, 2014 in Zaria, Kaduna State turned bloody. And penultimate Saturday night, gunfire and occasional explosions kept residents of Gyelesu area of Zaria nervously awake in their homes.
An estate, which housed Zakzaky – a first class graduate of economics from the Ahmadu Bello University (I979) – had been condoned off by soldiers, and was the theatre of the gun battle.
Even in the gust of the cold, dusty harmattan, residents in high rise buildings around the area claimed that a peep through the window showed battle ready soldiers taking position with their weapons, spitting fire into the large compound where Zakzaky, his household and hundreds of followers were holed up.
It was not clear if the embattled Shiite Muslims were firing back at the troops, since both sides later gave contradicting accounts. But, residents, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, claimed to have heard piercing screaming of women and children, with men barking out orders from the compound. The battle went on, right through the night and continued after day-break, until Sunday.
Zaria, an old Hausa city, with a blend of ancient homes and modern buildings, located on the south-most fringe of the Sahel in Kaduna State, had experienced a violent encounter between the Nigerian Army and the IMN the previous day (Saturday).
Video clips show a group of people, some of them wielding clubs, machetes and knives, refusing armed soldiers passage on a major road. An unidentified Brigadier General and his men emerge, vehemently pleading with the leaders of the group to leave the road, but to no avail. Objects are thrown at the soldiers as they try to navigate the unruly situation. Suddenly, the crowd, which also has some women, becomes riotous.
The clips then show scenes of burning tyres and cleared barricades on a street but, this time, deserted. The clips are the evidence of a resolvable issue that later became ugly, leading to the siege on the compound of Zakzaky that Sunday night.
That penultimate Saturday evening, the Nigeria Army and the Shiite Muslims had traded blames over the afternoon confrontation between soldiers and the sect.
COAS escaped assassination from Shiites – Army
A statement by Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, Acting Director, Army Public Relations, issued, in Abuja, read: “The Shiite sect, on the orders of their leader, Ibrahim El-Zak zaky, today afternoon, in Zaria. attacked the convoy of the Chief of the Army Staff, while on his way to pay homage to the Emir of Zazzau and attend the Passing Out Parade of 73 Regular Recruits Intake of Depot Nigerian Army, Zaria.
