By Lawal A Dogara,Kaduna
The son of Sheikh Ibrahim El-zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria otherwise known as Shiite, was one of the five people that were initially reported to have been shot dead by the soldiers when the two clashed in Zaria on Friday.
But reports later said the death toll had risen to at least 11 while about 40 others were wounded.
According to an eyewitness, the members of the Shiite group were on a procession to celebrate this year’s Quds day and at the same time to condemn the military operation in Gaza by the Israeli forces in Zaria.
The witness further disclosed that the sect members while carrying out their procession got to a military check point close to the PZ roundabout in the ancient city. In the process, there was a misunderstanding between the protesters and the soldiers and this resulted in the soldiers firing warning shots. But this was said not to deterred the protesters who were said to be on carrying on their Protest.
Investigation revealed that in the process, Mahmud El-Zakzaky who was one of the leaders of the protest was hit by bullet allegedly fired by the soldiers .
His younger brother, Ahmad El-Zakzaky was also said to be among dozens of the people arrested by the military.
When contacted the Military authority will not out rightly confirm the incident but a source close to the military said the army authority was aware of the incident and studying the situation.
As at the time of filling in this report, there was confusion and commotion around the PZ area of Zaria and more soldiers have been drafted to the area.