Quds Day shootings: How the military targeted my sons

By Ibrahim Usman
After the Eid prayer at the Hussainiyyah Baqiyyatullah Zaria, Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky further narrated the indiscriminate shootings of peaceful protesters during the Quds Day procession in Zaria, and how the military targeted his sons.

He was speaking on the backdrop of the current wave of killings in northern Nigeria, saying that the Quds Day shooting clearly indicated where the orders are coming from. “There is nothing like a religious group taking up arms in Nigeria as they are trying to make us believe. On our own part, they came in broad dalight in their military uniforms, fully armed with military inscriptions on their vehicles and committed arson and murder. From this you will understand those killing innocent citizens either in Birnin Gwari forest or Zamfara and other places.”

 Sheikh Zakzaky said, it is unbelievable that sporadic killings were going with a democratically elected government  assuming ignorant of the issue and lacks control. “There is nothing like Boko Haram killing people, we cannot be fooled. Those in authority are the sole authors of the atrocities”, he added.

 Commenting on how his sons were targeted, Sheikh Zakzaky made the following statement: “As they targeted my sons for arrest, in the process killed one, Mahmoud, whom they shot in the abdomen and he died. They also arrested three others, Ahmad, Hamid and Ali. Through a link we demanded them to release them to us, but the Commandant of the Basawa military barrack said he would not release them but rather will take them to ABU Teaching Hospital, Shika for medication. They were in good condition when they were arrested. As they were boarding them into the vehicle, he shot Ahmad three times and threw him into the vehicle. He was alive and talking then, they broke his arms and legs. They started beating Ali, while Hamid was trying to protect him, they turned to Hamid and stabbed him several times with knives, even on his head. Ahmad was already dead, but Hamid was still telling them words and they shot Ali on his legs. When they realized that Hamid was still talking, they continued stabbing him with knife until they made sure he was dead before they reached the hospital. The name of the person who shot them was Brigadier General S. Okuh, he is the C.O. Engineer of Bassawa. When i demanded for the release of my sons through the GOC 1 Mechanized Division, Okuh said he would release them but not alive. By Allah’s infinite mercy, Ali is alive, he saw how his brothers were brutally murdered before his eyes.  He is presently receiving medical attention, as a result of compound fracture on his leg, from the several shooting on his leg.

When this happened, people really sympathized with me without the usual display of diffrence instilled in them. This is another calamity they brought among the Muslims. They created groups fighting one  another on the basis of sect, but with this nasty event the idea was eradicted completely. We received several condolences from the government circle and even past leader.

People should look outwards for their enemy, not from within. They should know We have a common enemy, emerging in different colours and shapes, sometimes in a religious aspect. They could not find the people to do this for them here, so they decided to do it themselves. As we witness this, we should all come back to our senses and revert to Allah and break the imaginary barriers among us as Muslims. We should know that all Muslims are brothers. Yes, we have differences, but it is not a difference of belief and disbelief, but rather minor difference among Muslims themseleves. You should then weigh, who is really your brother and enemy, between an outsider who sees you as enemy and a brother with minor difference in your fold? When you are fighting an insider, you do not need the intervention of an outsider. The enemy has now resorted to doing damage on us, then blame it on us.

We pray that Allah deliver us from this degradation we found ourselves in Nigeria, who boast of having the highest population of Muslims. We are in a situation where Islam and Muslims are identified as the enemy of the state and a threat to the society, and the Muslims helplessly accepted the situation for a token or leadership.