Spokesperson for the Nigeria Army, Colonel Sani Usman, in an interview published by the Vanguard, explained the circumstances leading to the bloody clash between members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, and the Nigeria Army, penultimate Saturday.
"Sometime around 2:30pm, along Sokoto Road, by the Railway Clinic, a group of youths started coming from the PZ end, close to the spiritual headquarters of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria.
"What they did was to start encircling the convoy of the Chief of the Army Staff. We came down, we pleaded with them and we wanted them to see reason but, before you could say Jack Robinson, some of them had started throwing stones and you could hear loud bangs.
"Remember again, there were series of arguments. They alleged that some days ago, some security operatives went to a particular village and murdered their people. Meanwhile, there was nothing like that. What actually happened was that there was an altercation between the Islamic movement and some other Islamic sect over the location or ownership of a mosque. Then they changed the argument that they were having a funeral procession.
"For goodness sake, there was’t any funeral procession and, of course, when the leader was giving an interview on the BBC Hausa Service, he said they were hoisting a flag. Please, which flag are you going to hoist at 2.30 in the afternoon?
"And, in any case, in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, there is no flag that is more important than the National Flag.
"They had made bonfires and there was stone-throwing all over the place and no amount of pleading could get them to see reason.
"They made it clear that they had done it to several other people and that the Chief of the Army Staff was nobody and he could not pass through that road.
"People who were responsible for the safety and security of the Chief of the Army Staff had to clear the way for the Chief of the Army Staff.
"I want to honestly tell you that all these things were premeditated, they were planned and, before you knew it, they started encircling.
He said that the rampaging sect members were armed with machetes and catapults.
"They also had petrol bombs and were always hiding behind trees," he added.
He said aspect where the army opened fire on the sect is subject to inquiry and wouldn't discuss it.
"Sometime around 2:30pm, along Sokoto Road, by the Railway Clinic, a group of youths started coming from the PZ end, close to the spiritual headquarters of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria.
"What they did was to start encircling the convoy of the Chief of the Army Staff. We came down, we pleaded with them and we wanted them to see reason but, before you could say Jack Robinson, some of them had started throwing stones and you could hear loud bangs.
"Remember again, there were series of arguments. They alleged that some days ago, some security operatives went to a particular village and murdered their people. Meanwhile, there was nothing like that. What actually happened was that there was an altercation between the Islamic movement and some other Islamic sect over the location or ownership of a mosque. Then they changed the argument that they were having a funeral procession.
"For goodness sake, there was’t any funeral procession and, of course, when the leader was giving an interview on the BBC Hausa Service, he said they were hoisting a flag. Please, which flag are you going to hoist at 2.30 in the afternoon?
"And, in any case, in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, there is no flag that is more important than the National Flag.
"They had made bonfires and there was stone-throwing all over the place and no amount of pleading could get them to see reason.
"They made it clear that they had done it to several other people and that the Chief of the Army Staff was nobody and he could not pass through that road.
"People who were responsible for the safety and security of the Chief of the Army Staff had to clear the way for the Chief of the Army Staff.
"I want to honestly tell you that all these things were premeditated, they were planned and, before you knew it, they started encircling.
He said that the rampaging sect members were armed with machetes and catapults.
"They also had petrol bombs and were always hiding behind trees," he added.
He said aspect where the army opened fire on the sect is subject to inquiry and wouldn't discuss it.
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