Another Bloody Encounter Between Shiites and the Army in Zaria

                                            Army Officers Trying to Calm the Crowd

A week ago, there was a bloody encounter involving Shi'a adherents who blocked a road through which the Nigerian Army Chief was supposed to pass for official assignment. Although the country has witnessed clashes between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims in the past, in recent years the army has been increasingly goaded into unnecessary bloody encounters. The recent clash was predictable and the accompanying video shows that the Muslims were not ready to back down. In fact, you can hear some of them say in the Hausa language; they don't care being shot at because they are used to it. As the minutes passed, high ranking officers of the Nigerian Army who accompanied their Chief could be heard trying to calm the crowd by reasoning with the leaders and restraining their subordinates from shooting at the irate protesters. The reason for the restraint is probably the fact that a similar scenario occurred last year, not too far from the where the latest encounter took place with loss of lives. During that encounter, the sons of Ibrahim El-Zakyzaky and other Shi'a Muslims were reportedly killed. 

The problem of Muslim lawlessness in Nigeria is nothing new since the early eighties to the present. For the past several years the Shi'a in Zaria, where their leader is headquartered have engaged in unauthorized processions and arbitrarily shutting down major roads without warning or security clearance. The cause of last year's crisis is similar to the present one, when the same sect decided to block another road while soldiers were trying to make their way through.

The government needs to wake up to its responsibility of maintaining law and order. No one should be above the law and no one has the right to block common streets or roads used by all. The latest encounter between soldiers and Ibrahim El-Zakyzaky's followers is a sad reminder of what can happen when there is deliberate acceptance or disinterestedness in maintaining the rule of law. There appears to be worldwide condemnation of the army for using excessive force but the Kaduna State government is giving the army benefit of doubt. And yet again, in 2015, the death toll from a religious themed crisis is totally unacceptable. The most agonizing thing was watching the corpses being robbed of valuables.

In the chequered history of religious crisis in Nigeria, the government has been reluctant to act with any modicum of precision or decisiveness. After the clashes, expensive fact-finding missions are instituted, but this has not solved the perennial occurrence of religious riots because their recommendations are never implemented. 

Africa and Africans must learn that whether it is Sunni or Shi'a extremism, the well-being of the people of the continent is more important than killing or  dying for a god unable or unwilling to fight for himself.

 
         Dead Shi'a Adherents After the Carnage
                 [viewer discretion is advised]