The Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Shehu Sani, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to institute a full scale investigation into the recent killings of members of an Islamic sect in the state by some soldiers.
The Nigerian Army had on Monday admitted killing seven members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria in Zaria, Kaduna State in an effort by soldiers to protect the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, which was allegedly attacked by the sect.
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria belongs to the Shiite Islamic sect.
In statement on Tuesday, Sani condemned the attacks on the homes and members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria.
He asked Buhari to speak up on the unfortunate development because “silence and neutrality to this amounts to nothing but aiding and abetting a clear and undisguised abuse of fundamental human rights”.
Sanni added: “Nigeria is a democratic state, the professional conduct of the apparatus of the state must be done within the ambit of the law and respect for fundamental rights of the citizenry.
“Nigeria as a democratic state must learn to balance its security exigencies with the need to observe and uphold its constitutional and moral obligation to fundamental human rights of its citizens.
“Any excuse to circumvent human rights, is a step towards tyranny. Northern Nigeria have 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 senator argued that 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, Sani added, “is untenable, intolerable and unacceptable and has a serious repercussion to our global image, perception and moral standing”.
He said: “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 was an 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 the 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.
“The enduring spirit of a democratic state is upholding its moral values and achieving its goals.
“Our ultimate goal of restoring peace and order in our country must not be at the expense of sacrificing those very principles that distinctively separate us from those oppose to our democratic values.
“The right to life and human dignity is foundation upon which all other rights stand.We must learn to defeat ideas with superior ideas and not superior spears.”
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