The Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai has announced the composition of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the clashes in Zaria between the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, otherwise known as Shiite, and the Nigerian Army in December 2015.
A statement from Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, said that the commission has Justice Mohammed Garba, the presiding justice of the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal as the Chairman.
Director of the Centre for Islamic Legal Studies, Institute of Administration of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Dr Bala Babaji, was also named as the Secretary to the Commission.
Another member of the Commission is Professor Ibrahim Gambari, a former minister of Foreign Affairs, who was also an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and head of the UN Department of Political Affairs.
Aruwan said that the judicial commission was “established under Section 2 of the Kaduna State Commission of Inquiry Law, 1991.”
He also said that Governor El-Rufai has signed the instrument establishing the commission of inquiry, which is expected to submit its final report six weeks after its first public sitting.
Aruwan said the terms of reference mandated it “to determine the immediate causes of the clashes, examine the historical circumstances and contributory factors of the clashes.”
It would also “ascertain the number of persons killed, wounded or missing during the clashes”.
It would “identify the actions of persons, institutions, federal and state actors, and determine whether such actions were necessary, appropriate and sufficient in the circumstances in which they occurred.
He said the state government “consulted widely with the governments of the 19 Northern States and the Federal Government.”
Aruwan said that this was done “in a bid to identify credible, independent and impartial persons knowledgeable in various aspects that the Inquiry is expected to cover.”
The bloody clash in Zaria between the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and the Nigerian Army from took place between December 12 and 14 last year. [myad]
