Nigeria’s Shiites under Torture: IMN
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Spokesman for the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) said Shiite Muslim prisoners being held by the Nigerian police are in adverse conditions, and that some of them have died of the wounds caused by torture and gunshot.
Ibrahim Musa told the Tasnim News Agency on Thursday that many of Shiite IMN members have been injured after receiving gunshots, and imprisoned without adequate medical care.
Reports received from Kaduna prison indicate that more than 40 prisoners who were shot by the Nigerian army before being caught and transferred to the city’s two prisons are in a grave situation, he noted.
“We are still negotiating with the police authorities to have our prisoners released, but this has yet to happen,” Musa said, regretting that two wounded prisoners died in prison on Saturday due to lack of medical care.
He further noted that the police delivered the bodies of 5 Shiite prisoners on Saturday to be buried based on Islamic rituals, and that there were signs of torture – including electric shock and stabbing – on their bodies.
“The signs of torture were heinous,” Musa added.
According to reports, at least 100 Shiites were killed earlier this month when the Nigerian army raided the Islamic Movement headquarters and arrested its leader, prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky, in the northern city of Zaria.
On December 13, the army raided several buildings connected to the Islamic Movement and the home of Zakzaky. They arrested him and killed key members of the group, including Zakzaky’s second-in-command and spokesman.
On Saturday London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) said three sons of Zakzaky were killed in the raid.
Zakzaky had also lost three other sons in a similar attack by the Nigerian Army on an International Quds day rally in July 2014.
The Nigerian Army alleges that members of the Islamic Movement were involved in an attack on the convoy of the Chief of Nigeria’s Army Staff, Tukur Buratai. The movement has vehemently denied the allegations.
