Rally planned in London over Nigeria Shia killings
The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) announced on Monday that it will hold a rally outside the High Commission of Nigeria in London to demand justice for the recent "massacre" of Nigerian Shia Muslims in the country by the army.
The rally will be held between 08:00 pm-09:00 pm local time.
The IHRC has condemned what it has described as "the massacre of ordinary civilians and key members of the Islamic Movement" which started on Saturday, 12 December.
It said at least 1,000 have so far been killed, countless have been injured and medical attention is being deliberately denied to the victims for the past 28 hours. Among the victims are Ibrahim al-Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, his wife and some members of his family who were shot and need urgent medical attention.
Reports said soldiers on Saturday opened fire on Shia Muslims attending a ceremony in Hussainiyyah Baqeeyatullah, a religious center in Zaria. The Shias had reportedly stopped the convoy of Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai as IMN leader al-Zakzaky was planning a speech in the religious center. Several Muslims were killed in the attacks.
Following the incident, Nigerian forces raided the home of the top Shia cleric and arrested him after killing several of those protecting him, including one of the group’s senior leaders and its spokesman.
The Islamic Movement of Nigeria has confirmed that Zakzaky has been apprehended by government troops.
Nigerian authorities accuse Zakzaky of trying to assassinate the Nigerian army chief, a charge that he has vehemently rejected.
The fate of the top Shia Nigerian cleric remains unknown since his arrest.
Some reports had put the death toll of the Saturday attack at about 20 but the Islamic Movement of Nigeria said the army had killed hundreds of its members.
Iran's Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the violence and on Monday summoned Nigeria's charge d'affaires to express Tehran's dissatisfaction over this.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran firmly calls for the clarification of the aspects of the incident, treatment of the injured and atonement for the damages,” an Iranian Foreign Ministry official has been quoted by the media in Tehran as telling the Nigerian diplomat as saying.
The Nigerian diplomat, for his part, said he would convey Iran’s concerns to his country’s officials.
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