El-Zakzaky ‘If FG wants peace they should tell us where he is,’ Shiites say
The demand was made via a statement released by the group’s spokesperson, Ibrahim Musa on Monday, January 4, 2015.
Shiite Muslims in Nigeria have urged the Federal Government to reveal the current location of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky in order to ensure a peaceful resolution to the crisis between the group and the Nigerian Army.
The demand was made via a statement released by the group’s spokesperson, Ibrahim Musa on Monday, January 4, 2015.
It reads:
“The
Islamic Movement as well as the general public are now seriously
anxious. “Where is Sheikh Zakzaky and why has he been denied his
constitutional rights to an attorney, bail and visitation”
“If
the government is truly interested in finding a peaceful way out of
this crisis the army initiated and executed, as the government wants the
public to believe, it should by now have allowed an unimpeded access to
Sheikh Zakzaky.”
“First and foremost, his first
family members and leading brothers of the Islamic Movement and his
doctor should have met him by now, since he was shot by the soldiers
when they attacked his residence.”
“We are highly
agitated by this seeming needless incommunicado the Sheikh has been
placed in. The Federal Government should tell the public where Sheikh
Zakzaky is, because rumours of various degrees are flying about his
health.”
“… To our bewilderment, when a committee
of National Supreme Council for Islamic affairs (NSCIA) met the
Inspector General of police and demanded to see the Sheikh, he flatly
refused.”
“Surprisingly while the Nigerian
authorities had announced that he was detained and arraigned in Kaduna
prison, the Controller of Kaduna Prisons, Abubakar Argungu, denied he
was in their custody. So whom should we believe? This smacks of deceit,
conspiracy and outright manipulation of the public’s view of the army’s
massacre in Zaria.”
“We believe it is only when
the Sheikh’s health condition is made public by the relevant authorities
that the tension brewing among the populace will be doused.”
This comes after Iran said via its Foreign Ministry that it had taken necessary steps to warn Nigeria on the continued detention of El-Zakzaky.
Soldiers engaged the Shiites in a battle after the group allegedly attempted to assassinate Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai on Saturday, December 12, 2015.
The conflict escalated after soldiers surrounded El-Zakzaky's home and arrested him. The Shiites have claimed that about 1000 members of the group died during the confrontation.
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