Zaria killings: Army/Kaduna Govt differs on number of corpses

The Nigerian Army and the Kaduna State Government on Monday differed on the number of corpses that were given mass burial during the December 15, 2015 bloody clash between members of the Shiites group and the Army in Zaria, Kaduna State.
While the government had said at previous hearing of the commission that at least 347 corpses were handed over to them by the Army for mass burial, the Army claimed it handed over just “few” corspes to the government.
The Army refused to release the figure(s) it handed over to the government while testifying before the Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba’s Commission on the Army/Shiites clash on Monday.
The  Secretary to the Kaduna State Government, Mallam Balarabe Abbas Lawal had at the previous sitting of the commission, said not less than 347 unknown corpses from the last December clash were given mass burial in Kaduna few days after the bloody clash.
Also, the Director General of Interfaith, Muhammad Namadi Musa, had concurred by claiming that he led the burial exercise of the unknown corpses and that it was carried out at 12 mid night and lasted till 5:00am in the morning.
Musa had said,  “On 13th December, I received a phone call from the SSG to come to government house after which I was directed to go to Zaria to find out the number of corpses and how they would be buried.
“At the Nigerian Depot, the SSG directed me to meet with one  Major Ogundare regarding the corpses there. After introducing myself, he refused to let me know the number; but later on, the SSG called me and told me the number.”
However, the Nigerian Army maintained on Monday that few corpes and not the 347 corpses were handed over to the government for burial.
At the resumed sitting of the Commission  on Monday,  a medical officer from the Nigerian Army Depot, Zaria, Major Uche Agulana told the Commission that  contrary to the state government’s claim that 347 corpses were buried in mass grave,  he handed over few corpses to the representative of the state government.
Agulana, when cross examined by counsel to the commission to give the actual figure of the dead, said  he did  not keep the record of the deaths as according to him, he was busy at that time “trying to save lives that were brought into the hospital.”
Also, the General Officer Commanding the One Mechanized Division, Nigerian Army, Kaduna,  Maj-Gen. Adeniyi Oyebade maintained that members of the Shiites attacked soldiers with  dangerous weapons on that fateful day.
He added that it was that  situation that  prompted his men to apply relative force in order to restore law and order in the ancient city of Zaria.
When asked by Chairman of the commission why the army did not notify the Police during the incident on December 12, 2015,  before invading the residence of the detained leader of the Shiites,  Sheik Ibrahim El Zakaky, since the matter is a civil one, the GOC insisted that the police had no enough manpower to curtail the IMN members.
Besides, Oyebade maintained that Zaria fell under jurisdiction, it was his responsibility to maintain law and order in Zaria.