Nigeria army attacks on IMN unprovoked: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of Pan-African News Wire in Detroit, to discuss a recent report saying that crackdown against Nigeria’s Islamic Movement (IMN) continues to escalate in the wake of last December’s army massacre of Muslims in the town of Zaria.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What is behind this all-out crackdown, if I may call that, on the Islamic Movement of Nigeria?

Azikiwe: The Federal Republic of Nigeria government has not stated explicitly why they engaged in what is perceived by many as an unprovoked attack against the Islamic Movement. They claim that they were blocking the roads. Well, if that is true, there are other remedies, other than opening fire, on people for blocking roads. They could have been given citations, discussions could have been held with the leadership.

They also claim that there was a plot to assassinate a leading Nigerian military official, but no motivation for such conspiracy has been revealed. We believe and we do not have specific evidence of this as of yet, but it is part and parcel of a wave of anti-Iranian attacks, not only in Nigeria but throughout Africa. We have seen several states that have broken diplomatic relations with Tehran being Sudan also Somalia and this could be at the root of this current attack against this organization, which is largely a peaceful movement.

Press TV: Indeed, as you said, the IMN is a peaceful movement and you know Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky is still detained. How much longer can this continue because certainly out there anger is building?

Azikiwe: Yes, they indicted nearly 200 people earlier today on illegal weapons charges. Yet, there are no charges that have been found against the soldiers and security officials which open fire on the crowds, which also attacked the headquarters in Zaria which is in northern Kaduna state.

The movement itself is claiming that over 700 of its supporters are missing and are unaccounted for and the government is giving no official figure on the number of people who were killed. Even Amnesty International says there are hundreds of people who were killed in these attacks. I think that this is further exposing the government in Nigeria, the new government, that there has been relatively no change and the human rights status of that country vis-à-vis its relationship with the Islamic Movement.  

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