Between 12 and 14 December 2015, Nigeria witnessed one of the gravest violations of human rights in its modern history: the massacre of hund...
Between 12 and 14 December 2015, Nigeria witnessed one of the gravest violations of human rights in its modern history: the massacre of hundreds of Shiite followers of Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, including men, women, and children, in Zaria.
Investigations by Amnesty International Nigeria revealed that the Nigerian military used unlawful and excessive force; burning people alive, razing buildings, and secretly burying bodies in mass graves. More than 350 citizens were killed in those three days. The affected sites were sealed off, evidence removed, and the truth suppressed.
I was in Zaria at the time.
I remember the confusion, the fear, and the chilling excitement among some people (educated, professional people) who justified and even celebrated what happened. In one of our office WhatsApp groups, someone wrote that the Shiites should be “wasted.” Those words, spoken in casual cruelty, revealed how prejudice can normalize barbarity.
Later, graphic videos (see image attached) circulated online, showing young people stripping valuables from the bodies of the dead, a grim reflection of how unchecked violence erodes empathy and decays the conscience of a nation.
The alleged “offence” of the victims was obstructing the passage of a military convoy. They were later accused of planning a so-called “parallel government.” But even if such claims were true, could that ever justify the mass killing of unarmed citizens? Could it warrant the burning alive of the injured, the erasure of evidence, and the burial of hundreds in unmarked graves?
Ten years on, no one has been held accountable. The families of the missing continue to wait for justice, for truth, and for closure. Their grief remains a standing indictment of our collective silence.
The dehumanization of Shia Muslims by segments within the Sunni community remains one of the deepest stains on our national conscience. This gradual erosion of empathy, normalized in everyday discourse, reinforced in religious and social spaces, and left unchallenged by institutions, created the moral climate in which violence against citizens could occur. When prejudice is tolerated or cloaked in righteousness, it numbs society’s conscience and blurs the boundary between justice and atrocity.
For many Nigerians, what they know about Shiism has been shaped less by history or balanced teaching than by years of one-sided indoctrination, particularly through Salafi and Izala proselytisation that often portrays Shia Muslims as deviants or enemies of the faith. This conditioning has produced generations who view fellow believers through inherited hostility rather than informed understanding.
It is this deep-seated ignorance that explains, in part, the unsettling jubilation and moaning pleasure expressed by some when the massacre occurred — people who genuinely believed that violence against the “other” was a defense of faith, not its betrayal.
For those seeking to understand the roots of this divide, I recommend “The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future” by Vali Nasr. Understanding is not endorsement but it is the beginning of justice.
As we remember the victims of Zaria, may our sense of fairness never falter, even toward those who differ from us in belief or opinion.
Even if they blocked our passage or disturbed our sleep with their chants, may we never again become spectators in the face of injustice.
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