‘HOW TO END SHI’ITE, ARMY CLASHES’
Release El-Zakzaky, Wife – Prof Jibrin Ibrahim
Involve Mediators Before It Turns Guerrilla – Ex-Perm Sec
Sect Must Respect Constituted Authorities – Dahiru Bauchi
Security Must Take Charge of Situation – Daurawa, Dr Bashir
Ban Islamic Movement Now – Dr. Muhammad Kabir Asgar
Our Terms For Peace – Prof Isa Mshelgaru
Experts and religious clerics have expressed worries over the recent series of violent confrontations between members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), popularly referred to as Shi’ites and security forces, advocating measures to be taken to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.
Veteran bureaucrats and academics with knowledge of security issues as well as religious leaders who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday called on both sides to exercise caution, as the clashes have the potential of snowballing into large conflagration.
They advised Shi’ite members to respect constituted authorities and called on security forces to respect human lives when dealing with the sect members.
They, however, differ on ways that should be employed to tackle the problem.
For almost four days since last Saturday, military personnel and Shi’ite members have clashed in parts of Abuja, leading to the death of many members of the sect and injuries on security personnel.
The IMN members were on a ritual procession to mark the death of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), Imam Hussain, and demand the release of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El Zakzaky, from government custody, when a clash broke out between them and soldiers at the Zuba area of the Federal Capital Territory.
Each side has blamed the other for starting the violence in which the right group, Amnesty International said 45 Shi’ite members had been killed, a figure the Nigerian military has denied, putting the casualty figure at six.
In their separate interviews with our correspondents, the experts, comprising a member of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the government of Nasir El-Rufa’i to investigate causes of the 2015 clash between soldiers and Shi’ite members in Zaria, Prof Jibrin Ibrahim, a retired permanent secretary who does not want to be named, Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, Sheikh Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa, Dr Muhammad Kabir Asgar, among others, suggested ways to handle the issue.
On their part, the Shi’ites, through Prof Isa Mshelgaru, advanced their terms for peace. ‘Release Zakzaky, wife’ Identifying the main causes of the confrontational disposition of the Shi’ite members, Prof Ibrahim linked them to the killing of over 300 members by the Army in Zaria in 2015 and the continued detention of their leader, Zakzaky, against court orders.
For the skirmishes to end, therefore, he submitted that government has to do three things:
First is for government to obey court orders and release the sect’s leader and his wife, as his continued detention is illegal, the former director of the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) recommended.
He also suggested that government should sit down with the sect for a discussion that would identify the issues and develop a better understanding.
And lastly, “The government should also implement the recommendations of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry that earlier looked into the issue.”
He said the panel had found out that 347 of the sect members were killed during their clash with the Army in Zaria and that the sect feels soldiers who were responsible for the massacre of their members have not been brought to justice.
“They feel justice has not been served because the Army came, massacred their members and arrested their leader, who is still held in detention despite court ruling in favour of his release,” he said.
Contradicting Army’s claim that the sect members were heavily armed during the 2015 violence, Prof jibrin said the panel discovered that only one locally made pistol was found in their possession.
He said the panel recommended the prosecution of the soldiers involved based on its findings that excessive force was used.
Prof Jibrin, however, advised the sect to remain law abiding and not to respond negatively to provocation by the Army. “Processions are a constitutional right but in carrying our processions, they should always be law abiding,” he said. ‘Engage mediators’ In his separate comment on the crisis, a former federal permanent secretary, also hinged the release of Zakzaky as a right step towards getting the IMN members change their approach. He, however, differed from Prof Jibrin on this by arguing that the release should be made conditional.
In the absence of a quick and urgent solution to douse tension and the spate of violent clashes involving members of the group and security forces, a large scale urban guerrilla would be born, he warned.
But he feels mediators can be engaged to act as go-between and help government reach an understanding with the group.
The former bureaucrat, who had participated in many security panels in the country, said the leader of the sect should be conditionally released in line with the numerous court orders.
“The real problem is that government has ignored court rulings regarding the continued detention of El Zakzaky. Courts have given orders for the release of the sect leader. There ought to be respect for the courts and judicial processes.
“Some kind of arrangement ought to have been made since releasing him then may not be good for his safety. Arrangement should have been made through negotiations between him and the government where he would be released, but he would be placed on some kind of protective custody for his own interest and public interest,” he said.
He said government ought to have engaged Zakzaky seriously in negotiation, “so that he can be used to tame his followers rather than just locking him up and throwing away the keys.”
“We need that turning point and it is very urgent. Government needs to examine what it needs to do beyond just locking him up. We ought to have a process that engages the sect. They must be urgently engaged because this cat and mouse chase will not stop, and it is very, very dangerous for the country. These people, the only thing they lack now are arms. If they get it, we will be talking of large scale urban guerilla warfare. We must work and pray to avoid that kind of situation,” he said.
According to him, government should look at all options available to it, and it must be more aggressive in pursuing alternative options than just shooting at the members of the sect.
For the sect, he said they must understand that the government cannot abandon the public for them.
“They can’t just be going out in their hundreds or thousands, block roads, threaten innocent citizens, attack plenty people and think because they are Shi’ites there would be no consequences. No.” he said. Engage mediators For the retired permanent secretary, mediators should be engaged to serve as intermediaries
between the government and the sect.
“There are mediators, there are third parties, it is not as if there are no people who can actually intervene between the government and the Shi’ites. Every conflict can be mediated. There is no conflict in the world that cannot be mediated,” he said.
“What government needs to do is to accept and recognise the fact that just locking up El Zakzaky and shooting at Shi’ite members won’t end the problems. That’s not the solution. There are people who can step forward to help the country and the Shi’ites on how we can break this deadlock.
“As a matter of urgency, government must engage the Shi’ites. It can be done and it should be done. This is very important,” he said.
‘How El Zakzaky can be released’
According to him, the sect leader should be released on the basis of some negotiated understanding in a manner that the sect will see government complying with the rule of law.
“I think the release of El Zakzaky will address the substantial part of the grievances behind the problem. The main part of the clamour is the release of the sect leader. The court has given orders over and over, but government has refused to comply with it.
“I think what we need at this stage is that third party should come in, look at the complexity of the situation and advise both the government and Shi’ites on the way forward,” he said.
How the two sides can avoid confrontations – Dahiru Bauchi
A renowned Islamic scholar and leader of Tijjaniyyah Islamic Movement in West Africa, Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, also added his voice to the call for an amicable resolution to the ongoing faceoff between government and the Shi’ites.
He said that the open confrontation, which has become an annual occurrence, was uncalled for, and therefore, called for restraint on both sides to avoid further bloodshed.
“I am calling on the government to be careful and exercise restraint on people with extreme religious beliefs. I am also calling on such people to be moderate in their approach to things and avoid unnecessary confrontation with the government or any of its arms,” he said.
He faulted members of the IMN over their confrontational attitudes towards constituted authorities, describing it as the cause of shootings by the military, leading to loss of lives which the military always claimed was in self defence.
“There is no reason whatsoever to confront constituted authorities or anybody who is stronger than you. A stronger man can use any means, including your own strength to deal with you and there is nothing you can do. He can use your own hands to slap you and deny that he slapped you because he twisted your hands and slapped you with them. So, literally, you slapped yourself and you are crying.
“It is illogical for anybody to take the laws into his hands or engage in an open confrontation with the authorities. Islam is not known for this,” he added.
He advised members of the movement to find ways of registering their grievances or going about their activities without confrontation, as Islam has provided ways of expressing dissent against aggressive leadership and tyranny.
“We can agitate but not in a violent way. There are rules for any dissent in Islam and there are ways laid down for settling disputes. They are not the only religious group in Nigeria. There are many Islamic groups in the country. Our Tijjaniyya sect is not a group, but an Islamic religious order following the teachings of pious, religious Sufis.
‘Warped Ideology encouraged Shi’ite violence’
Tracing the origin of the sect, Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi said in the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) before becoming violent.
“Although the origin of Shi’ism is very old and rooted in Islamic political history, it had, however, transformed into a pseudoreligious movement with some warped ideology which is slowly becoming violent in a way. Shi’ism started since the time of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as an ideology being in the minds of some people.
“It started as a revolt by some people against the reign of Abubakar, Umar, Usman and Sayyidina Aliyu, which culminated in the war Sayyidina Ali fought with some deviants,” the Islamic scholar added.
Sheik Bauchi lamented the unnecessary loss of lives by the confrontation, saying that any loss of life was a loss to the entire Muslim ummah, whether it is a Shi’ite’s or not.
“The Shi’ites should know that they cannot lay claim to Sayyidina Aliyu because he belongs to all Muslims. Even Hussain that they are gathering to mourn his death in the hands of Yazid belongs to us all. They are not the only ones that lost him. It is the entire Muslim ummah and the Shi’ites that lost him and we are not happy with the circumstances leading to his death.
“So, we are calling on them to be peaceful in whatever they do and they should stop putting their lives and that of others, especially women and children in danger in the name of a mourning ritual. They should unite with all other Muslims to live in peace. Although the practice is over 1,300 years old and may not be forgotten, they should not be so deviant.”
While faulting the open confrontation by the Shi’ites against constituted authorities, he also faulted the Nigerian military over the use of excessive force against the movement.
He said while the convergence of the movement’s members in Abuja, their violence and extreme views and confronting the authorities were a problem, the authorities should stop using force against them.
“They wanted to show the government that it could not do anything to them, which is very dangerous. You cannot tell a person whom you know possesses a level of legitimate strength over you that he cannot use it on you. You know that if he wishes, he can use it on you, let alone a government,” he said.
“Yes, I want to advise the government to avoid using excessive force in tackling issues of religious or any other group, especially those with violent tendencies. We have not gone out of the Boko Haram menace, which has cost us so many lives and destruction over the years and something almost similar is rearing its head.
“The same use of force led to the escalation of Boko Haram insurgency which spread widely and far from its base in Maiduguri. The military, as a body which protects us against threats, should apply their professional ways to contain situations and protect lives, especially where women and children are in a crowd of people.
“We cannot continue to have this confrontation as a routine. It should be tackled before it gets to the level of open confrontation, and I am sure the government has many ways to avoid this loss of lives,” the Islamic cleric advised.
Nigeria must ban Shi’ites to have peace – JTI
According to one of the leaders of the Jama’atu Tajdidil Islam interviewed by Daily Trust on Sunday, Zakzaky and his movement should be banned otherwise there is the tendency for Nigeria to, in the nearest future, witness the type of crisis playing out in countries like Yemen, Syria and Lebanon.
“Shi’ites do not cohabit in a country where majority of the Muslims have strong resentment to their beliefs, especially the way they desecrate of prominent Islamic personalities. This is a recipe for violence and if government doesn’t like violence, all the Shi’ite groups with these provocative acts should be banned.
“We made submission to the Judicial Panel of Inquiry set by the Kaduna State government over the December 2015 Zaria incident and we said that the anti-state activities of Zakzaky group and its violent approach are enough reasons for government to take urgent steps of curtailing these, otherwise Boko Haram would be a child’s play. Government should therefore prosecute him,” he said.
Similarly, Dr. Muhammad Kabir Asgar of the Arabic Department of the ABU and one of the successors of the Sheikh Muhammad Awwal Adam Albani, averred that government could only take control of the situation by getting Shi’ite members to obey the law like other citizens.
“First of all, Nigerian government should be able to determine the legality of what the Shi’ites are doing. The government should ensure that the law of the land remain supreme and every citizen subjects himself to that law.
In a situation where government allows any group to feel that it is above the law, Nigeria is in trouble.
“From what the Shi’ites are writing, this is their first step in their efforts at taking over the government of the country. These confessions are all over. Their ultimate goal is to continue these confrontations up to the time they would seize the Villa. Their goal is to set up a Republic like that of Iran. Government should not underestimate the threat of the Shi’ites. Adequate security measures must be put in place to curtail their activities.”
“In a nutshell, the laws of the country must take its full course. Where the laws provide for their (Shi’ites) rights, they should be allowed to enjoy those rights, but Nigerian laws must remain supreme.”
Security forces must take charge of situation – Daurawa, Dr Bashir Aliyu
On his part, a Kano-based cleric, Sheikh Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa, observed that managing the issue lied purely in the hands of the security agencies. According to him, no nation will fold its arms to see a faction of its population being led to revolt against it, adding that such has never been condoned elsewhere in history.
The issue was not with the sect’s ideology because there are many Shi’ite members who have never taken to the street to protest against the government of the day.
“There must be something they do differently, and that is: they failed to respect the government of the day and they raised the flag of another nation in Nigeria. Therefore, the issue is not with faith as the constitution of Nigeria has given every individual the right to practise what he or she feels is right. We should ask ourselves: Why is it always the Shi’ites? Why not other sects such as the Tijjaniyya, Izala, Qadiriyya, Kala Kato etc? The answer here is: all these ones respect the law that governs the conduct of the country,” he said.
The cleric added that the only way out of the incessant confrontations was when the Shi’ites began to see themselves as Nigerians and also respect the laws of the nation that requires them to register and seek permission whenever they want to go out on the street for their activities.
“If they see themselves as Nigerians in Nigeria and also respect the laws just like any other sect does, I believe such clashes would seize to be and peace and harmony would reign,” he concluded.
Similarly, the Chief Imam of Al-Furqan Juma’at Mosque, Dr Bashir Aliyu, observed that the rising incidents of clashes between members of the Shi’ite group and security agencies was purely a security matter and the security personnel were in the best position to handle it properly.
“There are quite a number of Shi’ite members who did not believe in violence even though they believe in the ideology. This is a problem that needs to be taken seriously by any responsible government. The movement has the backing of an empire, which is Iran. This country has caused problems for so many countries across the globe, including Lebanon and Syria and they attempted to cause similar problems to countries like Morocco, Egypt, among others.”
Dr Aliyu said the activities of Shi’ite members were tilting towards causing public nuisance and no responsible government would fold it arms and watch a group of people disturbing peace of the majority.
He advised government to take necessary measures to address the situation, while calling on security personnel to observe rules of engagement while handling the situation.
“Security personnel must handle the situation with utmost caution so that they don’t injure or kill citizens of the country in the course of doing their job,” he said.
Government must accept us as a resistance movement – Prof Mshelgaru
A leading Shi’ite member in Nigeria, Professor Isa Mshelgaru, of the Department of Building, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, said confrontations between Shi’ites and security forces would not end unless government accepts the sect’s resistance ideological disposition.
He said Shi’ite members under IMN were different from other followers of the sect in Nigeria because they embrace both Shi’ism and resistance, adding that the state cannot force them to shelve that aspect of their ideological belief, no matter the number of their members that would be killed.
He described the ideology as similar to the one the Hizbullah in Lebanon is adopting in its relations with other countries.
“We also share the same idea of human resistance with Hisbullah. This resistance stemmed from the threat that we are facing from the West and hegemonies of different governments around the world. Hisbullah, for example, faces threat from Israel and others. Now Yemen is facing similar threat, so they have to resist, otherwise they would seize their state. Before this threat in Yemen, there were no any strong ties between Iran and Yemen, but this threat strengthened the ties between them,” he said.
He said the ideology of resistance cherished by the Shi’ites is what is playing out in Nigeria.
“This resistance is an ideology that is not limited to Muslims alone. Here in Nigeria, we have Christian section of IMN. When you go to Lebanon some of the members of the resistance movement of Hisbullah are Christians. You would find the same thing in other countries of the world.
He added: “The way out is for the government to know that what we are doing is our religious belief and we have right for that. Nobody can ask us to stop fasting, for example, with death threat. Therefore, government should know this and allow us to enjoy our constitutional rights like right to procession and use of government properties like roads since we are not over using the roads and other government infrastructure.
“Unless government realises that we have rights, our protests would continue. They can kill as many as they wish and that would not make us to compromise our religion. All our Imams, including Hussein, died in this path of struggle of ensuring that the words of Allah become supreme.”
The university professor dismissed allegations about Zakzaky being supported by Iran, saying: “I want to say that there is no Iran’s influence in Malam’s (Zakzaky) activities per se. But their meeting point is the Ahlul Bait (members of Prophet’s (pbuh) household) ideology. This meeting point is with any Shi’ite country. The Iran’s Islamic revolution brought about the relationship.
“Again, we don’t have any relationship with the Kano Lebanese, not to even talk of them funding us. Had it been they were funding us, everyone would have seen what we have done with the money. All our activities were funded by direct contributions from members. If we are receiving funding from outside, the government would have known and would have blocked it,” he said.
Speaking about other Shi’ite groups that respect constituted authorities and live peacefully with their hosts, Professor Mshelgaru described them as compromised.
“We are different from other Shi’ite groups in Nigeria because ours is a resistance movement, not completely Shi’ite per se. You can practise Shi’ism without taking the ideology of resistance. When Imam Khomeini fought the revolution, the people then in Iran were mostly Shi’ites, but they had been corrupted more than what is happening in Nigeria now. Therefore, the other groups you are talking about only concentrate in spreading Shiism, but ours is a resistance movement.
“These groups have compromised because all the Imams (leaders) of Shi’ite died in the course of this resistance. The question you should ask is: Why is it that these groups are not engaged in the resistance since Imam Hussein and the other Imams are the leaders of all Shi’ites? If you say you will practise Shi’ism without resistance, then you are doing something else.
“The Nigerian government is afraid of our movement because they know pretty well that it would reawaken the citizens of the country irrespective of religion, to stop the atrocities of the leaders. The Nigerian government is also aware of our numerical strength and how it is increasing by the day. In 2016, a Saudi Arabia report indicated that we had about 20 million followers in Nigeria and about five million sympathisers. So, this is what is frightening the government not our tattaki (trek or procession). Therefore, there is no level of killings that would stop us from practising our religious beliefs.
“In a nutshell, our ultimate demand is the release of our leader, Sheikh Zakzaky, and other brothers. Then all other things, like compensation would follow,” he said.
Attempts by Daily Trust on Sunday to get responses from the spokesmen of the Nigeria Police and the Nigerian Army were not successful.
Brigadier General Texas Chukwu and Deputy Commissioner of Police Jimoh Moshood did not respond to phone calls and text messages asking for their comments.