Zaria Clashes: Northern Governors Warn Buhari

8 years ago

Zaria Clashes: Northern Governors Warn Buhari

Governors of the 19 northern states under the aegis of the Northern States Governors Forum, have urgently met to discuss recent clash between the Nigerian army and members of Shi’ites group, which led to the deaths of many people in Zaria, Kaduna state.

Following the meeting the governors issued a statement cautioning President Muhammadu Buhari to tread with warning in how it handles the recent fracas between Shiite Muslims and the military.

Kashim Shettima, the chairman of the forum and Borno state governor said that “we don’t want the same mistake that happened over the Boko Haram crisis to repeat itself.”

“The issue has to do with an Islamic group that has membership across the 19 States in the North and beyond. We want to look how to ensure that the incident does not provide room for anyone or group to perpetuate violence in any of the 19 northern states.

“We already have the serious problems of Boko Haram to contend with. We are not in any way comparing the Islamic Movement with Boko Haram, no. But we don’t want the same mistake that happened over the Boko Haram crisis to repeat itself.

“When Boko Haram went wild in July 2009 with clashes between them and the police in Bauchi on 25th and 26th in Maiduguri, most Nigerians saw the issues as the problems of Bauchi and Borno. When they continued to attack Borno and Yobe, it became the affairs of Borno and Yobe States. All of a sudden, there was suicide attack in Abuja in 2012 and then everything went out of control and we are where we are today.

“So, like I said, we do not make any comparison between the murderously violent Boko Haram insurgents and the Islamic Movement but we are here to analyze and ensure that we take measures that will close any avenue which some people may want to seize to create violence in the immediate or long run.”

However, prominent Lagos-based lawyer and social justice activitist, Ebun-Olu Adegberuwa has called on the President Buhari to instantly sack the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai.

The army claimed that Shiites blocked the convoy of its chief, Tukur Buratai, and tried to assassinate him. Meanwhile, the group denied this accusation.

A Shia Muslim group led by Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, says hundreds, if not thousands, of its members were killed when soldiers stormed its base in Zaria and opened fire on unarmed residents.

The fate of the leader of the group and his wife remains to be unknown.