The police have killed five protesters and injured 25 others during a Pro-Palestine peaceful protest in Kaduna on Friday.
This was revealed by the spokesperson of the victims Malam Aliyu Umar Tirmizhi in a statement on Saturday.
He said the peaceful protest was to commemorate the International Quds Day on the last Friday of every month of Ramadan to show support for the oppressed people of Palestine who are facing mass genocide perpetrated by Israel.
He said, “This activity has been sustained for the past thirty years in major cities of Nigeria and has always been peaceful as do other activities we engage in over the decades.
“Unfortunately on Friday 6th, 2024, the well organized peaceful demonstration staged by unarmed men, women, children and even the physically challenged, to sympathize with the Palestinians and condemn the genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza, the police with full combat-ready force came in tens of vehicles carrying heavy arms and clampdown on the peaceful demonstration.
“Not minding who were there, they started by throwing teargas and simultaneously shooting sporadically at women, children, physically challenged and men and onlookers present there, without any provocation.
“As a result they killed five innocent persons, including minors, and injured 25, with some of them in very unstable situation. Those killed include: Mahmud Umar, Ibrahim Rabiu, Haidar Ishaq, Mustapha Buruku, and Ahmad Mustafa.”
Mr Tirmizdhi said to the dismay of the general public and those that were present at the incident, the Kaduna Police Command, through its spokesperson, addressed the press and gave a contrary statement claiming that they never fired any shot.
“We stated here that, this is extremely economical of the truth and very shameful,” he said.
He said another lie by the police command was that “we were arrested with deadly weapons, while everyone knows us, when we are conducting oir activities, apart from the flags that we are raising. we don’t carry anything.”
There are video clips, still pictures and even media reports available to prove this, most of which are already viral on social media.
He said even the government of South Africa is at the International Criminal Court (ICC) challenging this crime against humanity while Kaduna Police Command is killing those lending their voices against the genocide.
“We wish the police would use such force on the kidnappers and bandits having a field day in the state and comb them out of the bushes. Unfortunately it is the other way round.
On a final note we wish to state categorically that we are not going to accept this extrajudicial act perpetrated by the police and shall seek legal redress before a competent court of jurisdiction in the country.”
Earlier, the spokesperson of the Kaduna Police Command Mansur Hassan has denied killing any of the protesters, saying they became violent when approached by the police, resulting in a few arrests and the recovery of assault weapons.
