Soldiers Raped Our Members Before Killing Them – Shiite Women

KADUNA—Female members of the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, yesterday alleged that soldiers raped their members before killing them, in December clash between the Nigeria Army and the movement. Addressing a Press Conference in Kaduna yesterday under the banner of Sisters Forum of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, the forum called on the Federal Government to release their leader, sheik Ibrahim Zakzaky, his wife and other members with immediate effect. The secretary of the forum, Hajiya Aisha Hassan who addressed the press said: “It is now over three weeks since the Nigerian Army launched a brutal attack on members of the, IMN, that killed over one thousand people in Zaria after over 27 hours of indiscriminate shooting and bombing. “This is not talking about those who have been given mass burial by the Army or even corpses burnt, amongst whom are women and children, some of the women have even been raped before they were killed by the soldiers as confirmed by some survivors who were also tortured after their arrest by the Army. “The soldiers molested our women and removed their hijab which is a serious violation of Islamic right.. “Although we are aware that it is a deliberate attempt to intimidate and instigate us into mob actions, we will never resort to anything outside the normal legal process of seeking redress. This is evident in the way we acted last year when the same Nigerian Army attacked our members and killed 34 of them including three biological sons of our leader, Sayyid Zakzaky. “Despite this display of inhumanity and gross violation of fundamental human rights, to which no remorse was shown by the state authorities for what was undoubtedly a war crime against fellow Nigerians, the homes, Islamic centers and graves of the victims have been demolished with graves dug up and desecrated. “These demonic acts perpetrated by Nigerian Army has not only raised the Army’s human rights abuse records but has also turned a lot of women into widows, children into orphans and has also succeeded in wiping out a lot of families. “We call for immediate and unconditional release of our revered leader his Eminence Sheikh El-Zakzaky (H), and his wife. “We call for the release of our husbands and children that are in illegal detention facilities across the northern states. “Corpses of our members killed by the Army should be released to us with immediate effect for burials according to Islamic rites. “We call on the government to summon courage and live up to its morality and accept its crime by paying diyyah to all affected families and relations,” it said.

How We Deceive Security Agents –suspected Vandals

“We forge Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) waybills, invoices of major oil marketers and stickers of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG), to deceive security agents.” Those were the words of suspected vandals arrested by the Inspector General of Police Taskforce on pipeline vandalism. Among the four suspects paraded at the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters annex, Lagos, were Ganiyu Oresanya ( 38), Mutiu Bello also known as Omo Oja, and one Damilare, who had fake copies of Oando, Conoil and MRS’ invoices, as well as fabricated NNPC waybill in their possession. They were reportedly arrested in Ikorodu following intelligence report that they were carrying out operations in Shagamu and Ikorodu. The suspects were caught while on their way to Ondo State to sell petroleum products they siphoned from NNPC pipelines in Shagamu and Ikorodu. Oresanya, who acknowledged that he has been in the business of vandalism for sometime, said he was in charge of forging the relevant documents. “We make sure that we do the background work of covering our loading with fake NNPC documents and fake invoice from oil marketing companies so that we would not be caught. “I have been in the business for a long time. I am a printer and I print these documents myself. I did not know we would be caught because we are very careful in our jobs by backing the stolen products with all necessary documents. “I supply all the fake documents, while Mutiu Bello produces the tanker that comes to carry the products from the pipeline. “Damilare is the one who load the products. He is our boss,” he said. For Bello, who claimed he was contracted to load the products into another truck, said he was not aware the products were stolen. He claimed that one Temidayo invited him and he was offered N70, 000 for the job. “This is my first time and I was promised N70,000. It was one Temidayo who called me for the job. They didn’t tell me that it was stolen oil. “They said I was going to trans-load products from jerry cans at that area. They told me they are into black market operation but when I got there, I saw plenty Jerry cans,” he claimed. Addressing reporters, the Taskforce’s Sector Commander, Solomon Ubani, said the Force has recorded major breakthroughs recently following improved intelligence. “We have made breakthrough in the past few days. We have rejiged our intelligence for some time now and it is yielding results. “These hoodlums have continued to break our pipelines and sabotage the efforts of the Federal government,” Ubani stated.