Iran Press/ Africa: The protesters were carrying banners and placards containing photos of Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky in blood after shooting him with other messages related to the historical massacre. Some of the inscriptions in the Hausa Language reads "We commemorate the 2015 genocide against us by Buhari".
One of the survivors of the 2015 Zaria massacre, Muhammad Mahdi Shahid Ibrahim Sokoto, who was burned alive by Nigerian soldiers at Sheikh Zakzaky’s residence in Zaria, told Iran Press: "After the massacre, people asked me several times what was the saddest incident I witnessed during the terrorist attack of Nigerian government against its citizens? I did not want to speak about that. I didn't want to remember what I saw. I saw children burning in fire, and I saw women burning in a fire set by the army in Sheikh Zakzaky’s house. I also saw elderly men on the fire. I saw human beings' parts burning. I was very shocked at that time. I was standing on the wall, and the soldiers were going around, they were killing wounded brothers that did not die. If they saw anybody coming out of the fire, they shot him.
He added: "That was the moment when one soldier saw me and asked: you did not die?" I reply to him "my life is not in your hands." Then he shot me. I fell with so many corpses. The soldiers set us ablaze. My entire body is burnt as you can see. They took the dead bodies to Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria. The doctors later discovered that I was still alive. I was taken to the Niger Republic for medications. Still, due to the deterioration of my injuries, I was taken to the Islamic Republic of Iran, where I got all help I needed. And I later completely recovered."
Another victim who was shot eight times by the soldiers during the 2015 massacre, Muhammad Baqir Abubakar said he was in Darfur-Rahama, Shi'a mosque in Zaria to perform morning prayer along with many people on 12th December 2015 when Nigerian soldiers sieged the area and started shooting them sporadically. He said: "Despite we were not armed, they met us in the mosque and shot everyone. They shot me eight times, and when they discovered some were alive, used bayonets, and stabbed many victims to death. I and my friend were taken to the mortuary, and that was when they realized that we were alive. They tried to use knives to finish us but the medical personnel at the hospital protested. The health worker told them that the place was not meant for killing. So, the soldiers left us after a long time of quarrels soldiers. I finally recovered after six months.
He said: "We must thank all believers across the world who stood with us during that hard time—our special gratitude to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran gave us all kinds of help we needed. We thank media outlets from the Axis of Resistance like Press TV and Almanar. They kept informing the world about the atrocities against our leader Sheikh Zakzaky and his followers. They stood with us till our victory. We thank Islamic Human Rights Commission in London and Amnesty International for standing with the oppressed."
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