The Kaduna State Government on
Monday announced that 347
persons were killed during the
December 12 Shiite/Nigerian
Army clash in Zaria.
The Secretary to the State
Government (SSG), Balarabe
Lawal, disclosed this in a
government submission at the
ongoing Public Hearing of the
Judicial Commission of Inquiry
into the clash.
The burial of the victims was
done in secret, and this is the first
time the state government was
explaining how the remains of the
killed shiite members were
disposed.
Mr. Lawal, who led a six-man
government witnesses before the
panel, said 191 corpses were
taken from the Nigerian Army
Depot, Zaria, and were buried at
Mando area of Kaduna.
He said 156 corpses were also
conveyed from the Ahmadu Bello
University Teaching Hospital
(ABUTH), Zaria, to the same
Mando area.
The official said the corpses were
those of youth members of the
Islam Movement (IMN) who he
alleged attempted to attack the
convoy of the Chief of Army Staff,
Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Dec.
12, 2015, in Zaria.
The state government said the
corpses were committed into a
single grave (mass burial) at the
Mando area jointly supervised by
the state government officials and
about 40 men of the Nigerian
Army, led by an officer in the
rank of a Major.
Mr. Lawal did not say whether
relatives of the victims were given
opportunity to identify and
recover their loved ones before
the state labelled them unknown
corpses and buried them in a
mass grave.
The SSG said 189 suspects were being
prosecuted for alleged involvement in the
Zaria crisis while one suspect died in custody.
He said the state government received several
security reports from the State Security Service
(SSS) on the activities of the movement.
According to him, several measures were
taken to address the situation before it finally
escalated into the clash with the Nigerian
Army.
Another witness and Director-General,
Kaduna State Interfaith Agency, Namadi Musa,
said the mass burial was conducted on
December 14 and 15, respectively, and that it
took the officials about six hours to complete
the burial.
Mr. Musa said while six tonnes of Mercedes
tippers conveyed the 191 corpses from the
ABUTH, the Army used three heavy duty
trucks to convey corpses from the Zaria Army
Depot.
“The mass burial was authorised through a
warrant of burial obtained from a Kaduna
Chief Magistrates’ Court in Kaduna,’’ he said.
The state government blamed some of the
lapses and the excesses of the movement on
the inability of the previous government
which did not take serious action to curtail the
activities of the sect.
On the alleged demolition of buildings and
structures of the IMN leader, the witnesses
said that the demolitions were based on
recommendation of a committee set up by the
state government.
The witnesses, including officials of the
Kaduna State Urban Planing and Development
Authority (KASUPDA), the Kaduna Public
Works Agency (KAPWA) and the state ministry
of Works, Transport and Housing, told the
panel that several other structures belonging
to individuals had been demolished for poor
building specifications and standards.
Saratu Haruna, General Manager, KASUPDA;
Namadi Musa, D-G Interfaith Agency; and
Prof. Adamu Ahmed, Deputy CMD ABUTH,
appeared before the panel.
The Justice Muhammed Lawal-Garba panel
also took submissions from the Izala Islamic
group and the Gyellesu Community in Zaria.
(NAN)
