American – based newspaper , New York Times , says it has obtained a new video showing soldiers killing unarmed Shiites protesting the prolonged detention of their leader , Sheikh Ibrahim El Zakzaky .
The Nigerian Army had admitted killing six members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria along the Abuja -Zuba Expressway between October 27 and October 29 , 2018 .
The army had said the Shiites who were armed with stones and petrol bombs had attacked troops of Army Headquarters Garrison on official duty , escorting ammunition and missiles from Abuja to Army Central Ammunition Depot in Kaduna State .
However , New York Times said a video which it had obtained showed that the soldiers shot at civilians who were fleeing the scene.
The report reads , “ But a close review of video from the largest and most deadly of the protests, as well as interviews with more than a dozen witnesses , clearly shows the military opening fire on unarmed demonstrators , sometimes shooting indiscriminately into the crowd at close range as people turned and tried to flee .
“ Photos and videos recorded that day show at least 26 bodies . The group said it had collected a total of 49 bodies during four days of protests.
“ The killings are the latest example of a military that for years has been accused of human rights abuses , with rarely any punishment or action taken , despite President Muhammadu Buhari ’ s promises to crack down on military violations and restore security in the country. ”
According to New York Times , some of the corpses had bullet wounds at the back , indicating that they were shot while fleeing .
“ But the video from the march clearly contradicts those claims . The melee began that day as more than 1 , 000 marchers approached a military checkpoint . Soldiers arrived to block off the road . An armoured vehicle with high – calibre weapons patrolled the highway. After soldiers began to fire , they targeted protesters fleeing the chaos . Many of the injured were shot in the back or legs, ” it reported .
The newspaper noted that the killing of Shiite marchers six weeks ago generated little outrage in the country as neither Buhari nor members of the opposition condemned the killings .
The president ’ s “ turn – a – blind – eye approach has bolstered the military’ s culture of impunity, ” said Matthew Page , a former top expert on Nigeria for the State Department .
“ Nigerians ’ growing frustration with insecurity — whether it be kidnapping , armed robbery , communal violence or terrorist attacks — outweighs the disgust they feel about human rights abuses by security forces , ” he said .
Brig. Gen. John Agim , the spokesman for the Nigerian military, said soldiers had abused no one during the recent marches . He said he had not seen video of the events but was certain that whatever existed had been manipulated to make Nigerian soldiers look bad , calling it “ stage managed. ”
The protesters from the group generally “ cause a lot of disruption , ” he said . “ They destroy other people’ s cars. They block the traffic . ”
“ When they attack the military, what do you expect soldiers to do ?” he said , adding that the military had retrieved weapons from protesters , including knives and homemade firebombs. “Of course , there will be a necessary course of action . ”
Amnesty International disputed the military’ s statements , saying its allegations against marchers were an attempt to justify unlawful killings . The military’ s actions appear to violate international laws , according to Human Rights Watch , which said that Nigerian officials had a pattern of repressing the Shiite group .
Muhammed Sani said he had watched soldiers shoot to death one of his brothers , who had attended the Oct . 29 protest with him , and later learned that another brother had also been killed . He said he had lost friends that day , too .
“ Our protests are peaceful , but they kill us anyway , ” he said.
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