After months of silence, Buhari speaks on Zaria massacre
– President Muhammadu Buhari has assured human rights groups of a response to a report of the judicial inquiry into the clashes between the military and Shiites
– The presidency says the president’s commitment to human rights remains unchanged because it is a cardinal component of the democratic order
– The Shi’a Islamic movement lost more than a thousand members in an attack that took place between December 12 and 14, 2015
President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured international and local human rights groups of “appropriate response” to a report of the judicial inquiry into the clashes between soldiers and Shiites last December.
This was revealed on Tuesday, August 16, in a statement by a presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, who shared it on his Facebook page.
Read the statement below:
“President Muhammadu Buhari has assured international and local human rights groups of appropriate response over the report of the judicial inquiry into the clashes between soldiers and members of the Shiite movement in Nigeria, led by Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
READ ALSO: Zaria massacre: Commission for Judicial Inquiry indicts army
The president is studying the details of the report before announcing appropriate response in due course.
The president’s commitment to human rights remains unchanged because it is a cardinal component of the democratic order.
It would be recalled that when the clashes occurred in December, President Buhari had told the nation during the Presidential Media Chat that he was awaiting the outcome of the report of inquiry into the incident before making appropriate response.
The present administration believes in due process and the rule of law; therefore any response to the report would follow this principle.
The federal government will continue to act in the larger interest of the public to prevent such violent incidents.”
The killings drew worldwide condemnations, and several investigative reports said hundreds of Shiites were killed by government troops and secretly buried in a mass grave in Zaria, Kaduna state.
The Shi’a Islamic movement said it lost more than a thousand members in the attack that took place between December 12 and 14 at its headquarters in Zaria.
READ ALSO: 347 Shiites killed by army buried in secret – Kaduna govt
A representative of the Kaduna State government revealed that 347 bodies were handed over by the army for a secret mass burial.
Despite the evidence, the army claimed it killed only seven Shiites who blocked a public road and attempted to assassinate the chief of army staff, Tukur Buratai.
The leader of the Shi’a group, El-Zakzaky, who was arrested by soldiers during the operation, seven months ago has remained in custody.
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