20 feared killed as Nigerian troops arrest Shi’te leader, Elzakzaky



The leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, a group propagating the spread of Shi’te Islam in Nigeria, Ibrahim Elzakzaky, has been arrested by Nigerian troops, following a siege on his Zaria residence, PREMIUM TIMES can reveal.

A credible source in the sect’s hierarchy also told PREMIUM TIMES that a top leader of the movement, Muhammadu Turi, and the head of the medical team of the sect, Mustapha Saidu, and several others were killed during the siege.

The Nigerian Army and members of the sect have accused each other of instigating attacks that led to the death of members of the movement on Saturday.

While the Army accused the Shiite followers of attempting to assassinate Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, the Islamic movement said soldiers simply decided to attack “defenseless people”.

It was gathered that the Nigerian troops sustained a crackdown on the members of the sect throughout the night as heavy shootings and sounds of explosions were heard in Gellesu and Sokoto Road, where Hussainiyya – the spiritual centre of the sect – is located.

Residents of the area told our reporter that they saw armoured tanks demolishing the Hussainiyya shrine and the residence of the leader of the sect.

A source at the military hospital in Chindit Barracks Depot of the Nigerian Army, Zaria, told PREMIUM TIMES that they received 19 bodies of people killed in the encounter.

The spokesman of the Nigerian Army, Sani Usman, could not be reached for comment and is yet to release a statement on the arrest.

Ref: http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/195102-20-feared-killed-as-nigerian-troops-arrest-shite-leader-elzakzaky.html

The north is in dire need of civilization.

Everyone, take note of the recent series of events.
It began few weeks ago when a suicide bomber infiltrated into the shi'ite group's march and detonated an IED which killed several people.
At first, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack (Don't know why BH would want to attack them, though)
However, in a surprising turn of event, this man, Zakzaky, countered that claim and said the attack wasn't masterminded by Boko Haram.
That response made me realize there is something sinister going on. At the same time, Zakzaky didn't mention the person or group responsible, even though he claimed that he knows their identity.

Next is the latest claim by the Military that Zakzaky and his men tried to assassinate the COAS, Buratai, which led to the gunning down of several members of the sect. Now, Zakzaky has been captured, and it won't be a big surprise to hear he has been killed, perhaps while trying to escape or being rescued by his men.

In all this, I'm happy that the C-in-C of the Armed Forces is a northerner and a moslem. He should fully understand what is really going on and what the military is up to. However, the disgusting thing about Bubu is his silence over the entire affair. If events of such magnitude as this, which has led to the loss of scores of lives within a few days is not enough to make him address the nation, or at worse, give a press release, what else will make him talk?

Even the chatterbox, Lai Mohammed hasn't said a word over this issue. We are only left with the Army's claim that they tried to assassinate the COAS, which the sect vehemently denied. As it is, we are left to speculate and guess and make uninformed theories about this horrid turn of events that will no doubt, claim several more lives before the year runs out. A parallel event occurred in 1984 when the same Bubu was the Head of State.

Enough with the silence, Bubu. Tell your subjects what exactly is going on. Why the sudden crackdown on this group. Let us know whether to brace ourselves for the possible emergence of another monster, for this is how Boko Haram emerged, and we have not fully tamed this beast since then.

Bubu's boys should be careful with these fundamentalists, they shouldn't exacerbate this bokoharam insurgency palava by sparkling another insurgents. This would be very catastrophic to the north and the nation at large. ...i heard Bubu is Sunni, could that be the reason he is taciturn and allowing his boys attack this Shiite sect? There is schism among brothers of thesame faith already...

I hope they are not boko haram junior? Another islamic sect on the rampage!!!

They wanna turn Nigeria to Awusa land oh. This news go kill our economy finish and more money will be pumped into NA the more.

FEAR NORTH NOT