Nigerian Shia Muslim group says more than 700 still missing after army attack

more than 700 of its members were unaccounted for

A Nigerian Shia Muslim group said more than 700 of its members were unaccounted for, nearly a month after clashes with the army in the northern city of Zaria.

Ibrahim Musa, spokesman for the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, said in an emailed statement that there are about 730 people, men and women, who are still missing, since that fateful Saturday December 12, 2015.

He added that these missing people were either killed by the army or are in detention” but their “whereabouts are still unknown and undisclosed.

The army claimsthe violence was sparked when a makeshift roadblock erected during a religious procession blocking the convoy of Nigeria’s chief of army staff, Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai.

The army later claimed Zakzaky’s supporters tried to assassinate the general, a charge denied by the group. The cleric’s house and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria mosque were destroyed in resulting army attacks on Shia Muslims.