Senator Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna Central, has condemned the Nigerian military over a clash with Shiite muslims in the state over the weekend which led to the death of over 60 persons.
The Nigerian Army has confirmed it arrested the leader of the group, Ibrahim El-Zazaky, and his wife for allegedly plotting to kill Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai.
Images on social media showed heaps of bodies of Shiite members being robbed after they were abandoned by the Nigerian army.
However senator Sani, in a press release has condemned the action, saying it made Nigeria look bad.
According to him, the attack was nothing but “indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force by the military”.
“Silence and neutrality to this amount to nothing but aiding and abetting a clear and undisguised abuse of fundamental human rights.
“Northern Nigeria has in the last seven years been neck deep in violence and soaked in blood. Opening a new front will not augur well for the peace and stability of Nigeria.
“The Zaria killings simply affirmed the fact that as a nation we have not learnt our lessons from our painful and hard experience.
“The action of the military is untenable, intolerable and unacceptable and has a serious repercussion to our global image, perception and moral standing.
“In the light of our recent experiences, it’s in the best security interest of our nation to encourage and support religious groups to operate openly.
“The Islamic movement and their leader have repeatedly denounced terrorism and insurgency.
“Zaria killings were avoidable tragedy. The use of force must always be the last resort and not the first resort and must be done within the principles of internationally best practices of rules of engagement.
“We have a duty as patriots to support our military to protect and defend our country, but it must be held to account within the permissible line of morality and the law.
“Those who are in support of the Zaria killings are giving a helping hand to arbitrariness and spitting on a fundamental right that may be used against them someday.
