The
recent Soldiers/Shiites’ clash in Zaria is a worrisome development. It has come
at a time when Nigerians are almost heaving a sigh of relief over the deadly
Boko Haram attacks that seem to be abating. In fact, these Soldiers/Shiites’
clashes have become a recurring episode in our national life. And whenever they
rear their ugly head, it is with some catastrophic consequences, leaving a tale
of sorrow, tears and blood in its wake. The
Shiite group known as the Islamic Movements of Nigeria, IMNL, is led by its
fiery leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky. The group came into prominence after
the 1979 Iranian Revolution which was led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. That
1979 revolution sent the then American puppet leader of Iran, Shah Reza Palavi,
who had ruled the country with iron fist for decades, into oblivion. An Islamic
regime was then put in place and Ayatollah Khomeini became the spiritual leader
of the country. Since then, the Ayatollah, as the spiritual leader, has become
the supreme authority of Iran.
This
spiritual-cum-political arrangement must have been very attractive to the
Shiite group in Nigeria who are equally thought to be pursuing the
establishment of an Islamic state. Though the Shiite group holds sway in the
northern parts of the country, little is known about them in the southern parts
of the country. Nevertheless, security agents particularly the Police and
operatives of the Department of State Security, DSS, have always focused their
binoculars on the group especially its leader, El-Zakzaky. This has inevitably
made the sect and the security agencies bitter enemies.
In July
2014, while on a pro-Palestinian solidarity march in Zaria, Kaduna State, the
group clashed with soldiers. The unfortunate encounter led to the death of
about 34 members of the sect including three sons of El-Zakzaky. The army later
came up with the explanation that the clash occurred when members of the sect
attacked some soldiers who were trying to prevent the procession in view of the
prevailing delicate security situation occasioned by the activities of the Boko
Haram terrorists who had put the North-east of the country under armed
insurrection. It took some time for frayed nerves to be calmed but that
incident drew the line between the sect and the army. It was like a ticking
bomb waiting to explode.
However,
the ticking bomb finally exploded on Friday, December 11. That day, Lt. General
Tukur Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, was on his way to the Zaria depot
of the Nigerian Army to review a parade of the 74 Regular Recruits and also
later, to pay a courtesy call on the Emir of Zazzau, when his convoy ran into
members of the sect who were on a procession. Attempts by the COAS’ armed
convoy to disperse the crowd were said to have been rebuffed. Not even the entreaties
of some officers in the convoy who disembarked from their vehicles and
approached the sect members would sway the crowd who by then had blocked the
road. The COAS convoy was said to have come under attack possibly engineered by
some misguided and unruly elements within the crowd. The soldiers in the convoy
allegedly responded by firing some shots which led to the death of some people.
The crowd was then forced to disperse.