Judicial panel indicts Nigerian Army General, others for Zaria massacre of Shiites

The General Officer Commanding the Nigerian Army’s 1st Division, Adeniyi Oyebade, a major general, authorized last December’s military operation that massacred at least 347 members of the Shi’a Muslim group in Zaria, and should be prosecuted, a judicial commission of inquiry into the killings, has said in its final report. The commission of inquiry, set up by the Kaduna State government, indicted Mr. Oyebade and other senior army officers for the attack, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report. The panel’s report was submitted to Gov. Nasir el-Rufai on Friday, but its details are yet to be made public. The killings drew worldwide condemnations, and several investigative reports said hundreds of people were killed by government troops and secretly buried in a mass grave in Zaria, Kaduna State. The Shi’a Islamic movement said it lost more than a thousand members in the attack that took place between December 12 and 14 at its headquarters in Zaria.

A representative of the Kaduna State government told the commission of inquiry that 347 bodies were handed over by the army for a secret mass burial. But despite the evidence, the army claimed it killed only seven Shiites who blocked a public road and attempted to assassinate its chief, Tukur Buratai, a lieutenant general. It said troops only used force after it became clear that Mr. Buratai’s life was in danger. The leader of the Shi’a group, Ibrahim El- Zakzaky, who was arrested by soldiers during the operation, has remained in custody seven months after. The attacks were never condemned by the army hierarchy or the Muhammadu Buhari administration. After his initial silence, Mr. Buhari later suggested during a televised interview on December 30 that the victims invited the wrath of the military upon themselves by “hitting the chest of generals”. The report neither apportioned any blame to the federal government nor the army leadership, headed by Mr. Buratai.

Still, its details provide a glimpse into what was clearly a deadly use of disproportionate military force in quelling a civil unrest. The report confirmed that by any measure, the killings took place at a horrific scale.