IHRC

URGENT ALERT: Nigeria - Stop impending violence in Katsina

WEDNESDAY, 30 MARCH 2016

Write letters to the Commonwealth, African Union and FCO to stop the impending violence

Contents
1. Summary & Background
2. Action required
3. Specimen letter and addresses

1. “Reports from Katsina today have indicated that the Nigerian army is amassing troops in an attempt at a clampdown on the Islamic Movement in the town.

Early in the morning armed troops were seen surrounding the main Juma’at mosque, where a peaceful maulud procession of the daughter of the Prophet, Nana Fatima (AS) was scheduled to take off. Seeing this, and due to the peaceful disposition of the Islamic Movement, the take-off venue of this yearly event was changed to another neighbourhood of the town, and the procession went round some major streets of the town and ended without any incident.
However to our consternation, reinforcement was brought from neighbouring formations of the army, and roadblocks were mounted on almost all the major roads leading to Katsina city. We have been reliably informed that the army is set to replicate the wanton destruction of lives and properties it carried out in Zaria last December. The army it seems has vowed to attack the Markaz Islamic centre in the town any moment from now, possibly kill all its occupants and raze it to ground just as it did to Husainiyya Islamic centre in Zaria.” – excerpt from a message from the Islamic Movement in Nigeria

2. There has been ongoing violence against the IMN for many years but the recent aggression was sparked off in December when the Nigerian army attacked the house of Sheikh Zakzaky and killed over 1000 people. Currently there are still over 200 people held in detention where they are not allowed to even receive proper medical care. As seen in the statement above, these early stages look similar to those of the Zaria attacks and the impending violence is feared. There is the potential for thousands more to go missing; to be killed and to be held in detention. Write to the FCO, African Union and Commonwealth and demand that they intervene before something happens.

Read more:

awoosa n their life
e dinnor kwansyne me!!

Peace is the only way forward.

Northern Nigeria,