How the authorities respond to the inquiry’s
findings may indicate the extent to which reform is being implemented
under a drive by President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler, to
root out human rights violations by soldiers, Hindustan Times reported.
The United States blocked arms sales to Nigeria
and ended training of troops there under Buhari’s predecessor Goodluck
Jonathan, partly on concerns over human rights such as the treatment of
captured suspected insurgents.
The report confirms claims by human rights groups
such as Amnesty International that the army killed hundreds of Shi’ite
Muslims during three days of clashes in the northern city of Zaria. The
army has repeatedly denied this.
“The Nigerian Army used excessive force,” said the report by a commission appointed by Kaduna state, where Zaria is located.
“The Commission therefore recommends that steps
should immediately be taken to identify the members of the Nigerian Army
who participated in the killings of 12th — 14th December 2015 incident
with a view to prosecuting them,” it said.
The army has said Shi’ites had blocked its chief
of staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, and tried unsuccessfully to
assassinate him.
“We are aware that the report has been made public
and we are studying it,” Nigerian army spokesperson Sani Usman said on
Monday.
The commission’s findings contained in the report said 349 people, including one soldier, were killed.
“Out of the said 349 dead persons, 347 (excluding the soldier) were buried in a mass grave,” said the report.
The commission said it had received 3,578
memoranda, 132 letters and 3,446 emails, along with 39 exhibits and 87
witnesses testimonies in the course of the inquiry and the writing of
the 193-page report.
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