Friday, 25th July, 2014 will remain critical in the history of official violence in Nigeria for it is the day in which members of the Nigerian armed forces assassinated three children of the same father and mother. To the best of my knowledge, no Nigerian family was ever subjected to a trauma like that of Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky whose three children, Mahmud, Ahmad and Hamid, were murdered in the incident. Mahmud was shot alongside several other followers of the cleric in the sporadic shootouts of the ambushing military to Qudus demonstration in solidarity with Palestinians that the group was known to be holding peacefully for 32 years. Ahmad was arrested by the same forces but was shot dead at the point of taking him into the military vehicle. Hamid was callously stabbed to death at the same point for questioning the shooting of his brother. The fourth of the murdered siblings, Ali, escaped with fractures caused by the military after witnessing the beastly violence on his brothers!
UNEXPECTED REACTION
Those of us who knew the Sheikh through the media and street tips felt that with the Zaria manslaughter on that fateful Friday, a hornets nest deadlier than Boko Haram has been steered. Our worst fears have been, if a similar injustice in 2009 to the so - called Boko Haram could take us into the mess we all are today in spite of the low level of membership, then what more of a more heinous violence to an obviously more spread group that the cleric leads. Could this be the beginning of the North Western Nigeria facing a crisis similar to that of the North East that was triggered by violence on Malam Muhammad Yusuf and his followers?
This fear was quickly allayed by the calm and mild reaction of the Sheikh whom after narrating the event called for calm and restraints among his members. In fact, stories were told that he directed his followers to release some of the military men they arrested during the incidence.
ZAKZAKY: 'FIERY' STILL IN THE JUDGMENT OF NIGERIAN MEDIA
Notwithstanding this rare sense of maturity, Sheikh Zakzaky still retains the title of 'FIERY PREACHER' among several Nigerian media in their narratives on the event. The following is a list of five Nigerian media online that retain the phrase 'fiery preacher' for the cleric in their respective reports:
sunnewsonline.net
premiumtimeng.com
nigeriaheadlines.com
naijalately.com
nigeriatell.com
The natural question from the above: is what is 'fiery'. My AED electronic dictionary defines it as "characterised by intense emotion" or "like or suggestive of fire" while the Encarta dictionary defines the same word as "glowing hot", "showing intense emotion" among other related meanings. Similarly, Encarta Thesaurus listed the following ten words as synonyms to 'fiery': burning, scorching, blazing, flaming, hot, baking, heated, angry,turbulent and furious.
The next natural question to ask is how fair are these media in projecting the identity and personality of the Sheikh vis-a-vis his action in the moment of serious personal grief? This question is best left to the reader to answer and equally be guided on how to read and how not to read an average Nigerian newspaper or any newspaper in the world.
ANOTHER UNEXPECTED REACTION: THE EMERGENCE OF A GUIDED PUBLIC
Given the animosities existing between sects and religious groups in Nigeria, one expects either illogical condemnation to the Sheikh and his followers in this moment of grief or at best the usual conspiracy of silence. Contrary to that, serious condemnations came from sister groups and individuals. Remarkable among those condemnations were those of the Jama'atu Izalatul Bid'a Waiqamatussunnah (JIBWIS) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The civil right organisation led by Comrade Shehu Sani must be mentioned in this regard so also many individuals especially from the opposition who expressed covert and overt sympathy and condemnations.
This public response calmed my nerves a bit and stripped me off the confusion I find myself when something wrong is happening and everyone seems not to notice or care. In such a situation, I always remember Prophet Lot (A.S) who, disappointed with how his people generally condoned homosexuality and armed robbery, asked in lamentation "isn't there a guided person (to understand that these are evil acts)?". Of course, more decisive response is expected from constitutionally empowered bodies like our national assemblies so we can live with a reasonable confidence that justice would be appropriately dispensed on this matter and that the wrath of God that falls on societies that defy and deny justice would be deferred against ours.
My sincere sympathy to the Sheikh and the families of other 31 thereabout Nigerians on the injustice of their nation's armed personnel against them. We know they are not acting with Nigeria and its people in mind for Sambisa forest East of the country is still daring with hundreds of our girls in captivity. I believe, the Zionist interest which is at the helm of our security affairs in Nigeria today has to be naturally against the Sheikh whom for three decades has been leading an annual peaceful procession of tens of thousand followers against their injustice to Palestinians. As Zionism has an insatiable culture of violence, we call on all those that matter in Nigerian polity to decisively intervene and end this evil presence in our nation before they create a mayhem that no one can contain. "The owner of a room knows where it leaks best", says the Hausa man. As Nigerians, we know better how to solve our security and related problems than any evil alien costly hand pretending to help us.
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