Northern Nigeria Soaked in Blood for Seven Years, Nigerian MP Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The senator representing Kaduna state in Nigeria's Senate, said the attacks by the army which killed hundreds of Shiite members of the Islamic Movement in Zaria, northern Nigeria, have their roots in a longer history of violence against the Shiite community.
Nigerian army on Sunday raided several buildings connected to the Islamic Movement in Nigeria in northern city of Zaria in Kaduna state and the home of the movement's leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky. Hundreds, perhaps as many as 1,000 are feared to have died in the massacare.
In a statement on Wednesday the Senator representing Kaduna state, Shehu Sani condemned the brutal act by the Nigerian military, saying it would have grave repercussions for the African country's global image.
The attack was nothing but “indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force by the military,"the statement said.
“Silence and indifference in the face of the events would only be aiding and abetting a clear and undisguised abuse of fundamental human rights."
“Northern Nigeria has in the last seven years been neck deep in violence and soaked in blood. Opening a new front will not augur well for the peace and stability of Nigeria," the sanator emphasized, Nigeria-based Daily Post reported.
Elsewhere in the statement he called the military's action "untenable, intolerable and unacceptable," noting that “the Islamic movement and its leader have repeatedly denounced terrorism and insurgency."
“Those who are in support of the Zaria killings are giving a helping hand to arbitrariness and spitting on a fundamental right that may be used against them someday."
