Members of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), also known as Shiites, have faulted Federal Government’s claims hinging its refusal to release their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakyzaky, to national security.
The Islamic group also chided the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Alhaji Garba Shehu, for his statement on behalf of the Presidency justifying the illegal detention of Sheikh Ibraheem Elzakzaky and his wife, Malama Zeenah Ibraheem.
Spokesperson for IMN, Mallam Ibrahim Musa, said the Presidency “hinges their illegality on fear factor,” stressing that “their fear is that there would be a breakdown of law and order if Mr. Zakzaky was allowed to go home and Government has a responsibility to ensure his safety.”
Musa said IMN is thoroughly embarrassed and even shocked that the presidency will keep defending its impunity against the valid and subsisting order of the Federal High Court made on December 2, 2016; ordering it to release Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, by hiding behind the cloak of protective custody.
“We believe this defies logic, as it is a blind and baseless defence of the indefensible. Before the inhumane attack by the Nigerian Army on Sheikh Zakzaky and the IMN, we have been living peacefully with the society.
“It is therefore baffling to put forward such a baseless reason of protective custody for holding the revered Sheikh. Was it the society that attacked and killed the 1000+ followers of Sheikh Zakzaky?
“Who demolished the Islamic Centre of IMN? Who desecrated the graveyard of IMN? These heinous crimes were committed by the Nigerian Army,” Musa stated.
The prominent cleric Ayatollah Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife were taken into custody on December 14, 2115, after deadly clashes between the supporters of the IMN movement and Nigerian troops.
Nearly 350 members of the Shia movement were killed in the clashes. The sheikh was brutally injured and his house was reportedly destroyed by the army in the incident.
The judge said he had given 45 days for authorities to provide new accommodation for the Zakzaky family. The accommodation is to be in the town of Zaria, Kaduna state, where the family were detained, or in other parts of the state or alternatively any other part of northern Nigeria.
Kolawole said the State Security Service would pay each of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife $78,984 in compensation for the violation of their rights by being held in unlawful custody for nearly a year.
Nearly 100 IMN supporters were killed when Nigerian forces fired live rounds and tear gas at mourners during a peaceful march ahead of the Arbaeen mourning rituals, which mark 40 days after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shia Imam. Authorities also destroyed a number of buildings belonging to the IMN.
The Nigerian government has stepped up its crackdown on the IMN since the December 2015 deadly incident.
Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) on Wednesday, April 26, occupied the streets of Abuja, Nigeria's capital city to mark the 500 days in detention of Sheikh Zakzaky.
