Army/Shiite Clash: Gen Buratai Issues Stern Warning

Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai has reiterated the army’s resolve to defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria from any individual or group of persons who do not want rules and regulations or law and order to prevail in the society.

The Army/Shiite clash which occurred on December 12, 2015, resulted in the instant death of many members of the sect, with others seriously wounded.

The COAS , according to Leadership, issued this warning yesterday, January 19 at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) headquarters in Abuja during the first sitting of the investigative panel set up by the NHRC to probe the clash and make recommendations to the federal government on how to prevent a recurrence where he maintained that his men acted within the rules of military engagement.

READ ALSO: Shiite Group Releases Missing Members After Army Clash

According to Vanguard, Buratai who arrived at the commission around 11.30am amid tight security, insisted that the Army acted within its rules of engagement regarding the clash which occurred on December 12, 2015.

He dismissed claims that the army carried out a massacre on members of the sect, maintaining that only seven members of the sect were killed during the face-off, with 10 others seriously injured.

He narrated to the commission how his convoy was attacked in Zaria at about 2.30pm by members of the sect acting on the orders of Ibrahim El ZakZakky on that fateful day.

He said: “I left Dutse that morning, hoping to arrive Zaria on time, to attend the passing out parade of the 73 Regular Recruit of Intakes. But, the convoy was blocked when we entered the Zaria City. We are here because we know the sanctity of the human life which we have sworn to protect. One of our constitutional roles is to defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria, which also include the totality of the protection of human rights and indeed, the property of every Nigeria.”

The COAS said the circumstances that led to the incident of December 12, 2015 have been well documented by officers that were involved. And that the videos and photographs which showed how his convoy was attacked will be made available to the NHRC probe panel by his officers in due time.

He said: “It is not in the best interest of the nation for such lawless acts to be condoned or for the Army to be unnecessarily condemned in the media. If the Army is ridiculed, then we are not doing our country any service. We must support the Army. We are facing a very serious challenge right now, which is our fight against insurgency.”

READ ALSO: El-Zakzaky, Wife Recuperate From Gunshot Wounds

Buratai warned that if the Islamic Movement in Nigeria is allowed to continue to operate the way it has been operating, the country could be faced with a much greater menace than the current Boko Haram challenge facing the country.

“We are here because we know the sanctity of human life which we have sworn to protect,” he added.

Meanwhile, Shiite members in Kano state have raised alarm over an alleged plot by one Alhaji Lawal Hasan, a resident of Kofar Waika neighborhood in Kano metropolis, to instigate the state government against the movement.

The group in a statement issued on behalf of the group by Dauda Nalado, a lecturer at the Bayero University Kano, called on the sate government to disregard the unproven allegations leveled on the group by Alhaji Lawal Hasan

Nalado described the allegations that members of the movement were carrying out dangerous activities as “malicious claims perpetrated by mischief makers bent on brewing sectarian sentiments that will be detrimental to the peaceful coexistence of the state”.

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