The International Religious
Freedom Report for 2017 says the federal government has not held soldiers who
were implicated in the killing of over 300 Shi’ites accountable.
The report was released by the US
department of state’s bureau of democracy, human rights and labour.
In 2015, soldiers and members of
the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) clashed in Zaria, Kaduna state.
The clash led to the death of
over 300 members of the IMN and since then Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, their leader,
has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) despite a
court order which granted him bail.
The report said the order which
awarded El-Zakzaky a sum of N25 million as restitution has also not been
complied with.
“Human rights groups continued to
report the federal government often failed to prevent, quell, or respond to
violence affecting religious groups, particularly in the north eastern and
central regions of the country,” the report read.
“In November, Kano State police
fired tear gas and bullets, killing three members of the Islamic Movement in
Nigeria during its annual Ashura procession. The government continued to detain
the leader of the IMN, the country’s largest Shia group, and restrict the
activities, free movement, and free association of its members.
“There were no reports of
accountability for soldiers implicated in the December 2015 clash between the
army and IMN members that, according to a Kaduna State Government report and
reports from non-government observers, left at least 348 IMN members and one
soldier dead, with IMN members buried in a mass grave.
“The government stated publicly
that Sheikh El-Zakzaky, leader of the IMN and a prominent Shia cleric, would
remain in what it said was ‘protective custody’ pending the appeal of the
December 2016 decision of the Federal High Court in Abuja that the government
must release him.
“At year’s end, El-Zakzaky
remained in prison. The court also ruled that the government must provide him
with a house and pay him and his wife restitution of N25m ($69,600) by January
15; at year’s end, the court’s order had yet to be followed.”
It also noted that human rights
observers have expressed concern that a presidential investigative panel set up
by then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to check such excesses “lack
transparency”.
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