There was a clash between the Nigerian Army and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) which spanned from Saturday to early Sunday and left several dead in Zaria.
During the clash, the army also arrested the leader of the movement Ibrahim Zakzaky, who is being held in an undisclosed military facility.
On Monday, December 14, the soldiers evacuated the bodies of the Shiite Muslims killed in the clash, says the group’s spokesman, Ibrahim Musa.
“We have reports that bodies of our members killed outside the house of our leader are being evacuated in trucks by soldiers,” he told AFP.
“Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky was arrested this morning in his demolished home by soldiers where he had been holed up in a room that was spared from the fire that gutted the house from grenades,” he said.
Musa also revealed that some of the victims of the clash included his wife, son and the former IMN spokesman.
“We can’t give a precise figure of the deaths but it is huge given the number of the members that answered the call to protect the house from the invading soldiers,” he said.
According to him, the group’s leader was not able to leave the house as he suffered gunshot wounds from the sporadic shooting of the soldiers.
“We gathered he was taken to Kaduna (70 kilometres away). We got in touch with the medical doctor that is treating him who confirmed to us that our leader is critically ill from four gunshot wounds he sustained,” he said.
“He was shot at four times, this the doctor confirmed,” Musa told AFP.
Witnesses also spoke of soldiers removing bodies around Zakzaky’s house.
“This morning, soldiers started evacuating corpses of followers of Zakzaky in trucks for possible disposal,” a certain Bashir Bello told AFP.
“A large number of his followers were gunned down around his house on Saturday through Sunday morning where they had congregated to protect the house from military invasion,” Bello said.
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