TheCable

The Nigerian army has again justified its killing of some members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) better known as Shi’ites, describing a stone as a weapon.

While speaking with New York Times on Friday, John Agim, acting director of defence information, said the army used the video of US President Donald Trump as a response to Amnesty International’s claim of excessive force by the military.

Agim said if David could kill Goliath with a stone, stones should be considered as weapons.

The army had earlier on Friday posted a video clip of Trump’s directive to his country’s military where he said they should consider stones thrown at them by asylum-seeking migrants as rifles.

The post which has been deleted from the Twitter handle of the army where it was shared, asked Nigerians to “make your deductions” from the comment.

“We released that video to say if President Trump can say that rocks are as good as a rifle, who is Amnesty International? What are they then saying? What did David use to kill Goliath? So, a stone is a weapon,” he said.

“Our soldiers sustained injuries. The Shiites even burnt one of our vehicles, so what are Amnesty International saying?”

Amnesty International had described the firing of live ammunition to disperse a peaceful gathering without warning as a “clear violation of Nigerian and international law.”

IMN members had clashed with soldiers in some parts of Abuja. The army confirmed three Shi’ites dead and four soldiers wounded during the incident but the group said at least 1,000 of its members are missing.