NATIONAL
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
SUBMISSION
OF REPORT OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION PANEL (SIP) ON CLASH BETWEEN THE NIGERIA
ARMY AND MEMBERS OF ISLAMIC MOVEMENT IN NIGERIA (IMN) WHICH OCCURRED FROM12-14
DECEMBER 2015 AT ZARIA, TO EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, PROF BEM ANGWE ON WED 21ST
SEPT. 2016.
PROTOCOLS
1.0 GENERAL BACKGROUND OF REPORT
There was allegation that the convoy of the
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) was blocked by persons alleged to be members of the
IMN on his way to attend the Passing Out Parade (POP) of the 73 Regular
Recruits Intake of Depot, NA, Zaria, on Saturday 12th December 2015.
The police in Zaria was invited by the Nigerian Army to assist in dispersing
the crowd. It made attempts to persuade the crowd to disperse to no avail and
the police retreated to fortify its police stations against attack. It was
further alleged that other security agencies like the FRSC and NSCDC made
futile attempts to contact the IMN leadership to disperse the crowd.
After entreaties to the persons blocking the
road and the contacts made to the leadership of IMN for the crowd to disperse
failed, the officers in charge of the personal security of the COAS used force
of arms to create safe passage for his convoy. Subsequently a cordon and search
operation was mounted around all properties of IMN in Zaria to contain any
attempt to launch a counter attack by the IMN. The cordon and search operations
resulted in several casualties on the side of the IMN and the Nigerian Army.
The
Commission monitored the report in both local and international media and
subsequently, on the 14th of December 2015, the Chief of Army Staff
lodged a complaint at the Commission alleging attack on his convoy and
attempted assassination.
2.0 SETTING
UP OF THE PANEL
Owing to the seriousness of the security
situation and nature of human rights violations and abuses that occurred during
the incident, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, on the 18th
December 2015, constituted a Special Investigation Panel (SIP)on the complaint.
The SIP was inaugurated on the 21st Dec, 2015, initially with four
members and a secretary. Subsequently, considering the need to mainstream
gender into the membership of the SIP, a female member was appointed for the
SIP, increasing the membership to five. (Four males and one female).
The panel shall be cited as the Special
Investigation Panel (SIP) On Clash between the Nigeria Army and members Of
Islamic Movement In Nigeria (IMN) from 12-14 December 2015 at Zaria.
3.0 MEMBERSHIP
OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION PANEL
The members of the panel are as follows:
Anthony Okechukwu Ojukwu, Esq. -Chairman
Abdulrahman .A. Yakubu, Esq. - Member
Rabi Auwalu Anwar, Esq. - Member
Halilu Adamu, Esq. - Member
Babangida Labaran - Member
Kabiru Elayo, Esq. - Secretary.
The panel was mandated to co-opt any other
staff of the Commission it deemed necessary to facilitate its assignment.
4.0TERMS OF
REFERENCE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION PANEL
The terms of reference of the SIP were as
follows:
(a)
To identify any human rights violations that
may have occurred during the clash;
(b)
To find out the immediate and remote causes of
the violations;
(c)
To find out those responsible or culpable for
the violations;
(d)
To recommend appropriate remedies for victims
of the violations;
(e)
To ascertain the number of deaths that occurred
and properties destroyed;
(f)
To make recommendations for prevention of
future violations;
(g)
To take such other steps as may be necessary or
expedient in achieving the SIP’s terms of reference.
5.0 SITTINGS
OF PANEL
The SIP advertised for submission of memoranda
on the 24th Dec 2015. Sittings commenced on the 13th of
January 2016 at the end of the advertised period for submission of
memoranda. About 170 memoranda were
received from members of the public and the security agencies who played one
role or the other before, during or after the clash.
Worthy of note during the sittings was the
request the SIP made to the Nigerian Army to supply information as to the
whereabouts of the bodies recovered from the incident and the number of persons
who lost their lives. The Nigerian Army had directed the panel to the
Government of Kaduna state to whom it handed over the corpses recovered.
6.0
STAKEHOLDES WHO SUBMITTED MEMORANDA
The following stakeholders presented memos and
appeared before the SIP during its sittings, namely;
1.
The Nigerian Army (NA)
2.
The Members of Islamic Movement in Nigeria
(IMN)
3.
The Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI)
4.
Council of Ulamas, Kaduna State Branch
5.
The Nigeria Police Force, Kaduna State Command
6.
The Department of State Service, Kaduna State
Command
7.
The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps,
Kaduna State Command (NSCDC)
8.
The Federal Road Safety Corps, Kaduna State
Command (FRSC).
9.
Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development
Authority (KASUPDA)
10.
The Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital,(ABUTH)
Zaria.
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria submitted a
harmonised memorandum on behalf of all the members and gave individual and
general evidence on the submissions. However, half way to the conclusion of the
proceedings, the IMN wrote to the panel to discontinue its further
participation, appearance and involvement in the proceedings of the Panel. This
was at the critical point when the panel requested the IMN to substantiate its
claims and counter allegations and submit a detailed quantification of its
properties destroyed, lives lost and missing persons during the incident.
7.0
STAKEHOLDERS VISITED
The SIP visited the following stakeholders to
obtain their views on the incident, namely:
a.
The Zaria Communities at the sites of
properties of IMN destroyed.
b.
Gyellesu Community, Zaria
c.
The Military Depot Commandant, Zaria
d.
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Zaria
Unit
e.
The ABU Teaching Hospital, Shika, Zaria
f.
Nigerian Prisons Service, Kaduna State
g.
The Governor of Kaduna State.
The SIP also paid a courtesy call on the Emir
of Zaria.
It is important to point out that during the
course of the visits to stakeholders, the SIP was informed that the individuals
arrested as a result of the incident by the NA were handed over to the Nigerian
Police who had processed their papers to court. Consequently, they were
detained at the Kaduna Prison. The SIP therefore paid a visit to Kaduna prison
to see the affected inmates detained as a result of the Zaria Incident. It was
an opportunity to interview some of the eye witnesses to the incident to get
first-hand information on the incident.
It should also be noted that during the visit
of the SIP to the Kaduna State Government, the SIP requested for the number of
persons handed over by Nigerian Army as well as their whereabouts. It was then
informed that the corpses recovered had been buried in mass graves after due
consultations internationally and locally and that the figures will be made
available to the Kaduna State Commission of inquiry during its inauguration and
proceedings.
8.0 VISIT TO
LOCUS IN QUO
In addition to the above meetings and
stakeholders visited, the SIP also visited the Locus in quo (scenes of the
incident) as follows:
a.
The Hussainiyyah Baqiyatullah Sokoto Road Zaria
b.
The Gyellesu Residence of Sheik EL -Zakzaky
c.
The Dembo cemetery and film village.
d.
Mortuary and wards of ABUTH, Shika Zaria.
9.0 CHALLENGES
i.
The SIP had challenges of time, equipment and
resources to unravel the truth from stakeholders and parties to the clash.
There was non-availability of necessary expert and forensic analysis of
information, data and evidence before it. The gap in the funding of the
Commission by the Government became apparent in the business of the panel. It
is commendable that the SIP was able to surmount the above challenges, but it
is hoped that similar or future SIPs will not be confronted with similar
challenges of inadequate funding.
ii.
The ABUTH expressed frustration of its efforts,
by law enforcement agents, to document the corpses and carry out autopsy of the
bodies recovered from the incident before the mass burial. This inability of
ABUTH to document and carry out autopsy before burial, of the corpses recovered
from the scene of the incident of 12-14 Dec, 2015 adversely affected the SIP.
This made it impossible for the SIP to confirm the total number of deaths and
the causes of death as required in the terms of reference of the SIP. It also
made it difficult to assess the proportionality and reasonableness of the
response of the NA to the aggression of the IMN during the Zaria incident of
12-14 Dec, 2015.
iii.
The mismanagement of the corpse recovered from
the incident constituted a major impediment to the documentation and analysis
of the cause of deaths. It also made it difficult to know the actual number of
deaths and the causes of such deaths and led to the denial of traditional
burial rights for the persons affected..
iv.
The discontinuance of participation, appearance
and involvement in the proceedings by the Islamic movement in Nigeria (IMN)
after submission of written and oral evidence also posed a challenge. It was at
the point that the panel requested the IMN to substantiate its claims and
counter allegations: the total number of missing persons and the assessment of
their properties destroyed, that it wrote to the SIP informing it of the
suspension of its participation in the proceedings. It therefore became
difficult for the panel to make a finding in these areas and some other areas
where the input of IMN was inevitable.
10.0 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REPORT
10.1. KEY FINDINGS,
SPECIFIC AND GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS OF SIP
10.1.1FINDINGS
The key findings of the
SIP are as follows:
i. The
immediate cause of the incident of 12th December, 2015, was the
blockade of the public highway by members of the IMN. This, they did by turning
out en mass with arms, becoming riotous and constituting an obstruction on the
road and placing stones and bonfires to prevent passage of the convoy of the
COAS.
ii. The
remote cause of the incident was the mutual suspicion between the NA and IMN
members following the past clashes as a result of road blocks by IMN. The
reports of the investigation of these clashes between the two were not released
and no action had been taken on them.
iii. There
is no evidence before the SIP to substantiate the allegation that the incident
of 12th to 14th December, 2015 was pre-planned or
pre-meditated before those dates by either side (NA or IMN).
iv. That there
was violation of the following rights:
a)
The right to life of the persons who died
during the incident.
b)
The right to freedom of movement of the COAS
and his convoy
c)
The right to property of IMN and others whose properties
were destroyed without due process.
v. The panel is
aware of various court proceedings for the enforcement of the Fundamental
Rights of Sheik El Zackzacky and is constrained tomaking a finding on the
status of his rights to liberty and fair hearing as these are the same matters
before the courts. Under the Standing Orders and Rules of Procedure of the
Commission, it does not assume jurisdiction over matters in court.
vi. There is no
clear and conclusive evidence about the total number of missing persons, lives
lost or the cause of deaths. These can only be determined scientifically by
conducting forensic examination of the corpses recovered and buried in mass
graves during the incident.
vii. The
leadership and members of IMN were responsible for the abuse of right to
freedom of movement of the convoy of the COAS and other members of the public
by blocking the public highway on the 12th of Dec, 2015.
viii. The clash
between the Nigerian Army and the IMN resulted in events that led to the loss
of lives that occurred during the incident.
ix. There was
stampede and use of different kinds of weapons by opposing parties during the
incident.
x. There were
mass demolitions of properties by Kaduna State Governmentas a result of the
incident without due process thereby violating the right to property of the
victims.
xi. The panel
found that the people killed during the incident were given mass burial without
first establishing their identities or autopsy or medical report indicating the
cause of death.
xii. Kaduna state
government did not give the figures of number of dead persons to SIP when it
visited the State Government to request for this and other information on the
dead person like death certificates and autopsy reports. Rather the state
government promised to release the figures to the Kaduna State Commission of
Inquiry. So the SIP could not make a finding on the figures as there was no
clinical evidence adduced before it on this except the conflicting figures from
IMN, the media and security agencies.
xiii. The cause of
death of each of the deceased persons should be determinedscientifically before
the reasonableness and proportionality of the response of the NA to the
aggression of the IMN can be determined in the circumstances of the incident of
12th-14thDec. 2015.
The detailed findings of the SIP are contained
in chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the main report of the panel.
11.1.2
SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS
The key specific
recommendations of the SIP were as follows:
i. The members
of IMN arrested for various violations and offences should be speedily and
fairly tried by the Kaduna state high court;
ii. There should
be sensitization of religious groups on the need to
respect the right to freedom of movement of others especially on a public
highway.
iii. There should
be a Public apology to the complainant and members of the
public by the IMN for the abuse of their right to freedom of movement by
blocking the public highway especially considering similar conduct of IMN in
previous circumstances and to other public authorities.
iv. There is
need for a public inquiry equipped with forensic and all other necessary
support to find out the total number of persons missing or that died and the
cause(s) of any such deaths to enable such public inquiry determine the number
of persons affected, proportionality and reasonableness of the response of the
NA to the aggression of IMN during the incident of 12th-14th
Dec, 2015. This is having regard to the evidence before the SIP that these
deaths were not documented nor the corpses analysed by way of autopsy in the
hospitals but that such corpses had been buried in mass graves by the Kaduna
State Government.
v. Any officers
of the NA found culpable for disproportionate and unreasonable use of force in violation
of the Rules of Engagement and Code of Conduct of NA and the 1999 CFRN during
the incident of 12-14 Dec, 2015, should be prosecuted.
vi. There is
need to ban future acts of mass burials without individual identification of
corpses and medical report on cause of death or autopsy in accordance with the
law
vii. The leader
of IMN should be tried speedily for any offences (if any) established against
him and his organisation in line with the1999 CFRN, as amended. However,the
issue of his continued detention and violation of his right to liberty are already
subject of litigation before courts of competent jurisdiction and therefore
sub judice.
viii.
Compensation computed in a fair manner by
experts should be paid by the Kaduna State Government to the victims of the demolished
properties.
ix. The Federal Government
and Kaduna State Government should be responsible for the medical care and
bills of all those that were injured during the incident including IMN leader,
Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his family members. In this regard, the Federal
and Kaduna state government should support the ABUTH, Depot NA Medical Centre
and the 44 Reference Hospital Kaduna that treated most of the persons affected
during the incident.
x. The
Nigerian Police Force should be properly equipped to carry out its
constitutional roles. This could have made it capable of assisting the NA
during incidents to disperse the crowd and secure passage for the COAS either
through the use of tear gas or other measures at their disposal for such
purposes. It was observed that rather than assist the NA, the Nigeria Police
Force retreated and returned to its stations to fortify their premises and left
Nigerian Army to handle the matter.
xi. Building the capacity of the Nigerian police
is necessary in terms of training, provision of facilities – alternative
means/methods of arresting/dispersing crowds/riots without necessarily using
lethal weapons (arms).
xii.
The report of previous inquiries into clashes between
the NA and IMN or between IMN and other persons in the community should be
released and implemented to avoid giving a wrong impression of the state of
things in the society.
xiii.
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) in collaboration
with the Directorate of Civil Military Relations of the NA and other security
agencies should organize constant dialogues between security agencies and
religious groups within their areas of operation.
xiv.
Public enlightenment, sensitization, advocacy and
information dissemination programmes, as well as education of the populace on
their civic responsibilities should be embarked upon by Federal Ministry of
Information, NOA, NHRC, and other relevant organisation including CSOs and FBOs
etc.
xv. The
increasing involvement of military in civil operations is not sustainable and
should be discontinued to avoid the increasing conflicts between the military
and civil society.
xvi.
The persons who lost their lives unjustifiably during
the incident of 12-14 Dec, 2015, including members of the armed forces, are
entitled to compensation from the Federal Government.
xvii.
The appropriate criminal prosecution for
blocking the public highway by members of the IMN should be applied to the
members and leadership of the IMN for failing to obey lawful directives when
requested to do so by law enforcement officials.
xviii.
The blockage of public highways or roads for
religious purposes or other activities like tax collections should be banned by
the Federal, State and Local Governments.
The detailed specific
recommendations of the Panel are contained in chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the
main report of the SIP.
11.1.3
GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS.
The SIP made general recommendations to the
following parties and stakeholders, namely
i. The Nigerian
Army (NA)
ii. The Islamic
Movement in Nigeria (IMN)
iii. Security
agencies namely, Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence
Corps, the Federal Road Safety Corps, Department of State Services and the
National Intelligence Agency,
iv. TheFederal
Government of Nigeria and its agencies namely: The National Orientation Agency
and the National Human Rights Commission.
v. State and
Local Governments namely: The Kaduna State Government, the Kaduna State Urban
Planning and Development Agency and Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
vi. Civil
society and Faith Based Organisations
vii. Nigeria
Inter-Religious Council.
viii.
International Community.
The detailed general recommendations are
contained in chapter 7 of the main report of the SIP.
12.0
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The SIP wishes to thank the Executive
Secretary, Prof. Bem Angwe, for the confidence it found in the members to
carry out this assignment. We hope that the SIP has been able to justify that
confidence by completing this assignment and submitting its report today. Our
appreciation also goes to all staff of NHRC who assisted the SIP in one way or
the other to complete this assignment especially the verbatim reporters, Sagir Dauda
and Anthonia Nwabueze as well as the ICT Assistant Mr. Seun Elere.
The SIP wishes to acknowledge the cooperation
and support of the Nigerian Army, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello
University Teaching Hospital, all government agencies as well as the law
enforcement agencies, traditional institutions, all the CSOs and Interfaith
Based Organisations, all individuals, organizations and the media, who
participated or contributed in one form or the other to make the assignments of
the panel realisable. It is the fervent hope of the SIP that the implementation
of the recommendations will contribute in no small measure towards resolving
the problems precipitated by the clash of 12-14 Dec, 2015.The SIP appreciates
your patience in waiting for the outcome of this report and solicits the
cooperation and understanding of all stakeholders to make the report effective.
Finally but not the least, I wish to recognize
and thank my colleagues, the members of the SIP and verbatim reporters who
worked tirelessly, stayed long hours in the office and during weekends, kept
awake at night for the completion of the
investigations and compilation of this report. Your efforts have resulted in
the completion of this assignment.
CONCLUSION
The entire incidence is regrettable and brings
to the fore the failure of the criminal justice system in Nigeria. The incident
would have been avoided where the criminal justice system is effective. There
is therefore an urgent need for the Federal Government to give serious
consideration for fundamental reforms in our criminal justice system in
Nigeria.
The Executive Secretary sir, I now have the
pleasure to submit the report of the panel of investigation on the clash between
the Nigerian Army and the Islamic Movement in Nigeria on 12-14 Dec 2015, at
Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria, on behalf of the members of the panel. It is my
fervent hope that the report will be useful and serve the purposes for which
the panel was inaugurated.
Anthony Okechukwu Ojukwu. Esq.
Chairman of Special Investigation Panel (SIP)
On Clash between the NA and IMN on
12-14, Dec. 2015 at Zaria Kaduna State.
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