The leader of Nigeria’s Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, has declared that he and former President Muhammadu Buhari will face each other “on the Day of Judgement” over the 2015 military operation in Zaria that killed hundreds of his followers.
Speaking on Sunday at an event marking the ninth anniversary of the clashes, Mr Zakzaky accused Mr Buhari then president-elect of directly ordering the army’s assault on IMN members in Kaduna State between 12 and 14 December 2015.
The Shia cleric, who himself lost six sons in the violence and spent years in detention afterwards, said: “Buhari gave the order for the massacre.
He and I will meet before Allah on the Day of Judgement. ”A judicial inquiry commissioned by the Kaduna State government later found that at least 347 IMN members were killed and secretly buried in mass graves by the army.
The military had claimed it acted after Shia followers blocked a convoy carrying the then army chief.
Mr Zakzaky, now 71 and visibly frail following a stroke suffered in prison, was eventually freed in 2021 after courts ruled his detention unlawful.
He has since travelled abroad for medical treatment but returned to lead annual commemorations.
The former president has never publicly commented in detail on the incident, though his administration maintained the operation was necessary to prevent an alleged attempt on the life of the army chief and to curb the group’s activities.