After the Nigerian Army reportedly killed 34 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, headed by Ibraheem El-Zakzaky in Zaria, the protesters were described as if they were armed combatants and a report listed an ambulance as one of the “dangerous weapons” captured from them.

On 25th July, members of the sect were on a procession to mark the annual Quds day in Zaria, in solidarity with the Palestine cause, when soldiers armed with AK 47 assault rifles reportedly shot at them at the popular PZ roundabout in the city, killing 34 people and injuring several others.

The crisis started when the soldiers allegedly tried to disperse the sect, which was denouncing Israeli’s attacks on Gaza.

Mr. El-Zakzaky’s three biological sons, Mahmud, Ahmad and Hamid were shot dead. While a fourth son of the cleric, Ali, who was shot in the leg, survived.

According to Premium Times, a military signal on the incident stated that the event happened on July 14 instead of July 25. Attached as an appendix to a report on the killings by the UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), the signal, titled “The Zaria Massacres and the Role of the Military”, presents completely information.

The wrongly dated signal, signed by Bright Fiboinumama, a brigadier general, stated that the followers of Mr. El-Zakzaky were armed with dangerous weapons and “unlawfully engaged in an act of civil disturbance.” One of those weapons seized from them, the signal claims, was an ambulance.

However, the same signal ironically described arrested protesters as “prisoners of war” and underestimated the casualty figure, saying only 10 people died in the shooting.