Shiite spokesman denies attacking Nigerian Army first

On Channel TV station this morning, Shiite spokesman interprets his own story

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"On Saturday, it was scheduled that an event will occur in Hosenia (there worship center) near our Islamic center that is along Sokoto road in Zaria. So around 1pm, our brothers who were gathering there just saw a contingent of Army being put there. So they came out an asked them why are you brought here? The soldiers say that they are army chief is coming and that they have a passing out parade. Our brothers asked them this is not the first time you are doing your passing out parade, why should you come and be stationed just opposite Hosenia there? Last year the soldiers opened fire on the Muslim brothers while they were doing a Quds Day rally. So with this in mind the brothers asked them that it is not proper for them to be stationed just opposite the Hosenia and so they asked them to move back. When the soldiers who were many in number decided to move back, then the brothers started thinking that they had gone to bring more reinforcement; that was when the crisis started. It was then that the Army Chief’s convoy came and the brothers were not comfortable with what might transpire. After some negotiation with both sides, they then started opening fire and killed seven people on the spot and they got passage after dispersing the brothers near Hosenia. What surprised us is when the Army Chief had passed, why should they come back and lay siege on the Hosenia? After laying seige on Hosenia, tThey also went to the residence of our leader, Sheik Ibrahim Zak-Kaky and this confrontation went on right from 1pm on that Faithful Saturday down till Sunday morning. In Hosenia, there are over 1000 or 2000 brothers and sisters there. During the night they kept on firing, using grenades. We think they used bombs also because the building was completely raised to the ground. A lot of muslim brothers and sisters were killed. When they finished with Hosenia by Sunday morning, they proceeded to Sheik Zakzaky's house. There also there are thousands of Muslim brothers and Sisters who were there to give protection to the Sheik. There they opened fire also and our Muslim brothers right from our history in the past 40 years, it is known that we have never taken up any arms. We have never attacked anybody. We are only trying to make people to understand the true teachings of Prophet Mohammed. We don't carry arms and even the soldiers confessed in one of their interviews that they didn't see any gun or something of that nature. They only saw catapults, machetes and other things” he said. Ibrahim denied that his members made use of petrol bombs during the clash but however admitted that some of them were with Matchetes. He went on to say that machetes are not in anyway weapons. “We have never made any petrol bombs but machetes. Who hasn’t any machetes in his house? Machete is just what you use in cutting something that is strong. So I see no reason why machete should be termed as a weapon, machete is not a weapon. How can you compare a gun and a machete? It’s just ridiculous. It’s not possible, we haven’t ever used any petrol bomb throughout our 40 years in this movement and we have never carried arms. So they are just trying to make it up that we are the ones who attacked them and it’s ridiculous to say we tried to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff” he said