The Kaduna State government has released the report of the judicial
commission of inquiry set up by the state governor, Nasir El-Rufai to
investigate the cause of the clash between the Nigerian Army and members
of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) on December 12th to 14th 2015.
The report indicted members of the Islamic movement as the ones
responsible for the clash. The report, which was signed by all the
members of the commission, recommended the trial of army personnel that
were involved in the extra judicial killing of IMN members during the
clash.
It also recommended the trial of members of the
Islamic movement who took part in the killing of an army officer during
the incident.
The Commission in the report made a number of recommendations to the
Kaduna State Government and the Federal Government to address all
specific areas that led to the sad incident.
THE KADUNA STATE GOVERNMENT
i) Considering the nature and organizational structure of the IMN, where
the leader has the total control over the members, Sheikh Ibraheem
EI-Zakzaky should be personally held responsible for all the acts of
commission and omission of the entire membership of the Islamic Movement
in Nigeria in its clashes with the Nigerian Army for refusing to call
his members to order when required to do so.
ii) All incidents of violence and aggression by the members of the IMN
against individuals, groups or communities, which have resulted in
grievous bodily harm, destruction of properties and deaths, should be
fully investigated and culprits brought to book. Where appropriate,
compensations should be paid.
iii) The State Government should investigate and repossess all illegally
acquired public lands from IMN and utilize same for Public Interest.
iv) IMN should be made to conform to all constitutional requirements and
the provisions of other by-laws in obtaining land, building or
acquiring structures. It must conform to all building regulations,
however, whenever and wherever it so desires to build or acquire land or
property
v) All the dangerous weapons recovered from the IMN members should be turned over to the Police for further necessary action.
vi) The Government should deal with the IMN in accordance with the laws
and regulations of the land and be made to conduct its activities and
affairs within the ambit of the law at all times.
vii) Intelligence reports by security agencies regarding threats to
security, law and order should be taken seriously and acted upon
timeously to nip in the bud such occurrence.
viii) Mechanism should be put in place for the proposed Bill on
Religious Preaching to be passed into law as quickly as possible and
implemented with a view to purging Religious Groups which embark on
provocative teachings and preaching.
ix) Compensation should be paid to all those persons who complained
before the Commission that their properties were either destroyed or
damaged as a result of the clash.
x) The Government should make effort to reduce the number of idle hands
that might otherwise be willing recruits for the Movement by providing
employment to the teaming masses of the State.
xi) The prospects of constructive engagement with the leadership of the
IMN should not be foreclosed.
xii) The State Government should ensure that investigations against all
persons under detention in respect of these clashes between the NA and
the IMN on 12th— 14thDecember, 2015 are concluded and treated
expeditiously.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
i) The Commission is of the view that the use of excessive force by the
Nigerian Army, which led to the heavy casualties recorded in the Cordon
and Search Operation is an act of commission for which the NA is
directly responsible. The Commission therefore recommends that steps
should immediately be taken to identify the members of the NA who
participated in the killings of 12th— 14thDecember 2015 incident with a
view to prosecuting them.
ii) The Federal Government should ensure that investigations against all
persons under detention in respect of this clashes between the NA and
the IMN on 12th— 14thDecember, 2015 are concluded and treated
expeditiously.
iii) All incidents of violence and aggression by the members of the IMN
against individuals, groups or communities, which have resulted in
grievous bodily harm, destruction of properties and deaths, should be
fully investigated and culprits brought to book. Where appropriate,
compensations should be paid.
iv) Considering the nature and organizational structure of the IMN,
where the leader has the total control over the members, Sheikh lbraheem
EI-Zakzaky should be personally held responsible for all the acts of
commission and omission of the entire membership of the Islamic Movement
in Nigeria in its clashes with the Nigerian Army for refusing to call
his members to order when required to do so.
v) The Federal Government should explore diplomatic means to dissuade
other Countries from interfering in the Internal Affairs of Nigeria.
vi) The prospects of constructive engagement with the leadership of the IMN should not be foreclosed.
vii) The Government should deal with the IMN in accordance with the laws
and regulations of the land and be made to conduct its activities and
affairs within the ambit of the law at all times.
viii) Members of the IMN should never be allowed to carry any unlicensed
weapon under any guise. Whosoever found so doing should be prosecuted
immediately.
ix) All the dangerous weapons recovered from the IMN members should be turned over to the Police for further necessary action.
x) Intelligence reports by security agencies regarding all threats to
security, law and order should be taken seriously and acted upon
timeously to nip in the bud such occurrences.
xi) The Federal Government should have the political will to deal with
such threats posed by the IMN and similar groups. Testimonies at the
proceedings of the Commission by various stakeholders, pointed to
non-implementation of the recommendations of previous reports of other
Commissions of Inquiry relating to the IMN and other groups who were
found to have posed grave threats to law, order and peaceful
coexistence. Of particular relevance were the Galtimari and the Sheikh
Lemu Presidential Commission pertaining to Boko Haram insurgency.
xii) The Federal Government should be proactive in its dealing with threats posed by groups such as the IMN.
xiii) The Federal Government Agencies should respond positively to
requests for information by Commissions of Inquiry such as this
Commission to enable it make informed decisions or come to a firm
findings on issues based on credible data held by them that is not in
the public domain.
xiv) The Federal Government should ensure the presence of the Nigeria
Police and other Security Agencies in every community and other flash
point areas for effective maintenance of law and order.
xv) Efforts should be made by the Police Authorities to revisit the
system of Nigeria Mobile Police Force Unit, as it was in the
yesteryears, so that involvement of the Military in the management of
civil disorder would be minimized.
xvi) The Police Authority should ensure that recruitment into the Force
should be done on merit, suitability and good character as the Nigeria
Police of today contains all manner of characters.
xvii) The Federal Government should ensure professionalizing the Nigeria
Police and other Security Agencies through capacity building,
procurement of civil disorder management equipment and improved welfare.
xviii) The Security Agencies should ensure ‘watch listing’ of IMN
members ?,rid other persons of security interests, whenever they are
going out of or coming back into Nigeria with a view to discovering the
sources of their funding, foreign contacts and other relevant and useful
information.
xix) The Federal Government should not ignore the touted boast by the
IMN that it has its members all across the security services who feed it
with counter intelligence.
xx) The Security agencies aside having an effective synergy should
further strengthen their intelligence gathering mechanism in respect of
the activities of the group so as to ensure prompt and timely
interventions.
xxi) The Federal Government should facilitate the establishment of
Community Policing in its real sense in Nigeria with a view to curbing
immediately any breach of law and order in any Community.
xxii) The Federal Government should ensure that it develops and
implement properly intelligence driven operation policies for the
country.
xxiii) The Federal Government should review the adequacy of the existing
rules of engagement pertaining to internal security operations and
bring them into conformity with constitutional stipulations and in
accord with democratic norms and humanitarian best practices.
The Commission made some general recommendations that affect both
Federal and State Governments relating to employment, responsibility of
parents to their children, enhancing citizenship, the role of
traditional institutions and proliferation of small arms and light
weapons in the country.