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Nigeria's largest military wing, Friday, appeared to use the words of US President Donald Trump to defend the protesters over the past week.
the Official Twitter account of the Nigerian army, one of the three branches of the Nigerian armed forces, has released a video showing an excerpt from Trump's speech to the White House on illegal immigration and border security on Thursday, in which the US president has said throwing stones and stones at US troops considered a firearm.
"We will not tolerate that, if they want to throw stones at our soldiers, our soldiers will defend themselves," Trump says in the video. "I told them, consider this a rifle."
The tweet was released just days after clashes between Nigerian and Shiite Muslim soldiers became deadly again.
Since the beginning of the year, protesters have frequently invaded the streets of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, to demand the release of Ibrahim Zakzaky, the imprisoned leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN). , an organization based in Zaria, in the north of the country.
He became a staunch supporter of Shia Muslims in a country dominated by his Sunni counterparts.
Zakzaky has been in federal custody since December 2015, when Nigerian security forces killed hundreds of his followers. He was detained without charge until April and is still in detention, charged with murder for the 2015 violence, causing an uproar among his supporters.
Last week and Monday, security forces fired bullets and tear gas at supporters of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria as the group marched into the suburbs of Abuja. Nigerian defense spokesman Brigadier General John Agim said in a statement that the protesters injured soldiers with stones, damaged military vehicles, blocked the traffic and attempted to cross a military checkpoint. in the territory of the federal capital.
Six protesters were killed, according to Agim, who said his troops were subjected to "unprovoked attacks", "planned and premeditated" by the protesters.
"In all of these attacks, the IMN was the aggressor while the army was only acting in self-defense," Agim said in a statement released on Thursday.
Afolabi Sotunde / Reuters
However, an investigation conducted by Amnesty International revealed that the death toll was much higher.
At least 45 supporters of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria were killed on Saturday and Monday by security forces as the group staged two days of "peaceful rallies" around Abuja, according to the international rights monitoring group of the UN. A man based in London.
"Soldiers and police have used shocking and unconscious force against IMN members." Video recordings and eyewitness testimony consistently show that the Nigerian army has dispersed peaceful rallies by firing at Real bullets without notice, in flagrant violation of Nigerian and international law, "Osai Ojigho, Amnesty International Nigeria's executive director, said Wednesday in a statement. "Injured people were shot in different parts of the body – head, neck, back, chest, shoulders, legs, arms – and some were wounded by gunshots.This diagram clearly shows that the soldiers and the police were approached the IMN processions for failing to restore public order, but to kill. "
Amnesty International has hailed the "horrific use of excessive force" by the Nigerian army and said the researchers had "solid evidence" that security forces used automatic firearms during Monday's protest. .
"It seems that the Nigerian army is deliberately using tactics to kill at IMN rallies, many of these shots clearly equate to extrajudicial executions," Osai Ojigho said. "This violent crackdown on the protesters IMN is unjustified and unacceptable, they had every right to organize a religious procession and protest and there was no evidence that they were threatening life imminently."
The US embassy and consulate in Nigeria issued a statement on Thursday expressing concern over the "deaths resulting from clashes between Nigerian security forces and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria".
"We urge the authorities of the Nigerian government to conduct a thorough investigation into the events and to take the necessary measures to hold those responsible for violations of Nigerian law accountable for their actions," he said. ;embassy. "We call for restraint on all sides."
Afolabi Sotunde / Reuters
On Friday morning, the Nigerian army appeared to respond to Amnesty International's allegations by tweeting the video of Trump's remarks, accompanied by the caption "Please watch over and make your deductions".
The Nigerian army then suppressed the tweet, but not until various media outlets and US officials saw it.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power tweeted an image of the Nigerian army's tweet with the Trump video, and called the tweet "disgusting."
Trump returned the next day in his comments, saying the troops "should not fire."
"What I do not want, it's … I do not want these people to throw stones," said the president, adding that if the migrants throw stones at the troops, there would be problems." I did not say to shoot. But they do it with us, they will be arrested for a long time. "
Nicholas Kamm / AFP / Getty Images
The Nigerian army spokesman, Brigadier General Texas Chukwu, did not respond to ABC News' requests Friday to comment on the tweet and why it was withdrawn.
Nigerian defense spokesman Agim told ABC News that he thought the army was reacting to Amnesty International's criticism by "using Mr. Trump's video to justify his shots." ".
"What did David, the Bible, used to kill Goliath? I believe you know that he uses stone," Agim said. "I do not think you were waiting for soldiers to fold their hands to watch the protesters crush them."
In response to the tweet since removed by the Nigerian military, Osai Ojigho of Amnesty International Nigeria said the West African nation's government "must hold its security forces accountable" rather than engaging in to "an absurd competition over the person who will violate human rights better".
"Basic human rights are not subject to the whims of world leaders," Osai Ojigho said in a statement released Saturday.
The White House did not immediately respond to ABC News's request for comment on Saturday.
ABC News Meridith McGraw contributed to this report.
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