Nigerian military kills at least 19 protesters during Quds Day march

Nigerian military forces fired on unarmed demonstrators during a Quds Day procession in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, on the last Friday of Ramadan, killing at least 19 civilians.

Marches were reported in multiple Nigerian cities, including Bauchi, Potiskum, Katsina, Kano, Lagos, Kaduna, Azare, Sokoto, Zaria, Jigawa, and Yola, all of which remained peaceful. However, in Abuja, the demonstration turned deadly when security forces opened fire on the crowd. Witnesses report that the bodies of those killed were taken to an undisclosed location.

Quds Day is an annual event held on the final Friday of Ramadan to show solidarity with Palestinians and oppose the Israeli Occupation. The observance, named after the Arabic term for Jerusalem, "Al-Quds," was first introduced in 1979 by Iran following the Islamic Revolution.

It serves as a counterpoint to "Israel's" Jerusalem Day, which commemorates the capture of East Jerusalem in 1967 and was later designated as a national holiday by the Knesset in 1998.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) strongly condemned the attack, stating that the Nigerian military targeted peaceful demonstrators instead of fulfilling their duty to protect civilians.