The Nation Newspaper

Tag: IMN

  • Court frees 100 Shi’ites members in detention

    The Kaduna State High Court on Tuesday in her judgement in the “no case submission” filed by the defense lawyers on the case brought before her freed nearly 100 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) also known as Shi’ites group, that were arrested at various locations in December 2015 following a clash between the group and the Nigerian Army.

    Justice Shiri Nyom in his judgement discharged and acquitted the sect members of the charges levelled against them as contained in a Press Statement signed by the President Media Forum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim Musa and made available to newsmen.

    According to the statement, “This judgement has not only vindicated the members of the Islamic movement in Nigeria, but it is certainly a victory for perseverance in the face of extreme persecution. It is a victory for truth and justice against tyranny and impunity,” said the statement.

    The Islamic Movement further stated, “It will be recalled that the Kaduna state government sued almost about 200 members of the Islamic Movement after an attack on the Movement by the Nigerian Army in December 2015 which led to the killing of over a thousand souls, including three sons of the Sheikh Zakzaky, his elder sister and a nephew.

    “The attack was sequel to the unlawful invasion of the privacy of their residence and eventual destruction of the house completely. This has been aptly described by several human rights bodies as a massacre. To worsen these flagrant crimes against humanity, bodies of all the hundreds killed were hurriedly and secretly buried in mass graves about 100km away from the scene, apparently in a shoddy attempt at hiding the crime and its magnitude.”

    The sect group reiterated its call for the release of its leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife who have equally been in the custody of the Director of State Services (DSS), “We are all aware of the crude tactics of the Kaduna state government led by Malam Nasir el-Rufai all in his devilish plots at perpetuating the persecution against the Islamic Movement and the continued detention incommunicado of Sheikh Zakzaky and his ailing wife in spite of previous court judgement ordering their immediate release from detention, thereby further flaunting his fundamental rights and rights to liberty.

    “With this victory in the court today, the false charges filed against them of aiding and abetting the culpable homicide has been punctured for good. We await the response of the Kaduna state government as Sheikh Zakzaky’s case comes up in the next two days. We expect them to respect the judgement of this honourable court and the course of justice to withdraw the fake charges against him and release him with immediate effect.

    “As a peaceful Movement, we have kept to our clean tradition of seeking redress through peaceful means without any resort to violence despite deliberate and persistent provocations by the government. Today, Kaduna state government has again failed in court after a fair trial. We therefore give praises to the Almighty Allah for yet another successful outing, which further proves to the world that the Movement and its leader are only victims of impunity and mischievous plots by the El-Rufai-led government,” according to the statement.

    The Islamic Movement in Nigeria thanked all those that stood by it throughout the trial, “We wish to use this opportunity to also say a big thank you to all people of conscience, human rights activists and organizations, journalists and all those that joined in our dogged campaign for justice for the victims of Zaria genocide. Thank you and God bless.”

  • Rights group protests non-proscription of IMN to AGF

    Rights group protests non-proscription of IMN to AGF

    *IMN planning attack on innocent Nigerians

    More trouble seems to be brewing in the air for detained leader of the Zaria Iran affiliated sect, Mr. Ibrahim El-Zakzaky as a large number of protesters today besieged the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to demand for the proscription of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria [IMN] and subsequent designation as a terrorist organization.

    ASJA, during a protest march to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, in Abuja warned that after the confrontation with the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff in December 2015, the IMN is already re-grouping to launch attacks on innocent Nigerians.

    Torkuma V Asogo, Executive Director of ASJA‎ who led the rally said, If our laws cannot fight terrorism, the guns may also not be enough to win the battle.

    According to the group, IMN have claimed severally that they do not respect Nigerian laws.

    “As recently as this week, Nigerians have become aware that IMN leader, Mr Ibraheem El-Zakzaky was caught with a large cache of arms ammunitions in the period leading up to his confrontation with the military and his subsequent arrest and detention.

    “On several occasions his members had contemplated storming the facility in which he is detained with the intention to attack the security operatives there and free him while hiding such heinous plots under the cover of protests.

    “IMN’s link to Iran, a major state sponsor of terrorism, is not in doubt. This to us calls for not just concern but underscores the need to be proactive especially in the light of a recent CIA report that clearly indicted Iran for sponsoring terrorism to destabilize other countries. “Other nations have taken steps to designate groups connected to Iran as terror organizations to ensure the safety of their citizens. Nigeria must be the only country that allows an Iranian sponsored terror group to go around attacking security agents and harassing citizens without consequences.

    This is simply unacceptable. Iran’s backing of IMN has emboldened it as a terror group. Its members have openly confronted the military, the police and even our defenseless population the last being the attack on the Police in Abuja. Before this, IMN has made life unbearable to the population of Nigerians living within its sphere of influence. It even went as far as declaring for itself a parallel government.

    “This rally to your office is for us to demand the proscription of IMN, which the Kaduna State Government outlawed and properly documented in its gazette a long time ago. Several other states have toed the same path but this kind of installment approach is not adequate to deal with the threat posed by IMN considering its international sponsorship as terror group.

    “We therefore decided it is time to make this demand because of the increasing threats of IMN militants. We consequently demand that the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation properly designate IMN as a terrorist organization since its menace is growing every day and without any check from the Federal Government its criminal acts of terror will spread to other parts of the country”.

    The Executive Director also said, “The laws are unequivocal in the procedures for declaring a group as a terror organization. This has been tested sufficiently tested with the designation of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist group in the South East, immediately curtailed the terrorist activities of the group.

  • Designate IMN a terrorist group before it’s too late, Coalition cautions Federal Government, AGF.

    Designate IMN a terrorist group before it’s too late, Coalition cautions Federal Government, AGF.

    The Coalition Of Civil Society Organizations For Transparency and Good Governance (COCSOTGG), has called on the Presidency and the Attorney General of the Federation to act fast in designating the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, (IMN) a Terrorists group before it’s too late.

    The group said if care was not taken to curb the situation, IMN might snowball into another disaster in the country.

    COCSOTGG was reacting to the recent clash between police and some members of the Islamic movement who had gone to the unity fountain to protest the detention of their leader, El Zakzaky over acts of terrorism.

    The national president of COCSOTGG, Patriot Sabo Ode said Nigerians shall no longer accept the complacence of the AGF on the continuous existence of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria.

    According to him, it is a direct threat and danger to the peace-loving and law abiding citizens.

    He said, “We deserve to live and survive in our country, free of molestations or phobia of violence in whatever guise.”

    Ode said if the AGF fails to initiate the necessary action now, the IMN sect, which by the estimation of all right thinking members of the society, is worse than Boko Haram terrorists will re-enact the regime of bomb attacks in Abuja or elsewhere in Nigeria.

    His statement reads, “We are neither the least nor the most concerned about the security of our dear nation, Nigeria. But when we see national security drifting dangerously and fired with impunity by some violent sects, the dire consequences stare us in the face and, we are thus, prompted to voice out, as time has dictated at the moment.

    “We fanatically believe, it is our collective responsibility as people of a united federation called Nigeria to work towards those things that perch peace in our hearts and minds, neighborhood or anywhere in the country, than violence. So, our unadulterated convictions points to the natural understanding that violence solves no problem; but peace and dialogue are universal antidotes and, indisputably, the keys which prosper nations around the world. We reiterate that the extent or magnitude of bravado does not post any useful results to any of the parties in a rivalry.

    “Therefore, COCSOTGG was prompted into speaking to the Nigerian public again, because Nigerians appear to be very complacent with what we consider to be a thorough misbehavior, affront and assault on our dear nation, with the siege on Abuja in numbers, exceeding 10, 000 by Shiites members (IMN). Their leader, Shiek Ibrahim El-Zakzaky has taught them everything, except the rule of law or subordination to lawfully constituted authority and government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN).

    “We are not interested in scratching the bruises of old wounds and the damage to Nigeria, wrought on us by the IMN sect in the last 40 years, operating illegally and unregistered in Northern Nigeria. Even their fellow Muslims oppose them vehemently, faulting their style of public worship in lengthy processions, with assorted weapons, as strange, alien and unacceptable.

    “We have observed that members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, who though claim some religious activity, but are unfortunately, always combat-ready and striking any ideologically unaligned persons with awesome unprovoked violence and murder. And also, both leaders and adherents boldly profess allegiance to the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and affiliation with ISIS, as their mentors and sponsors of this bizarre version of Islamism in Nigeria. Iran is the most notorious terrorists’ nation in the world, which has “proudly” defied even the United Nations on promotion of terrorism.

    “Emboldened by this background, IMN sect members breach laws of the Nigerian federation with impunity and dares everybody, with a confounding recklessness or ruthlessness. From their Spiritual Head Sheik, El-Zakzaky to incensed aficionados, they all hunger to test their intolerable tempestuousness on the Nigerian public anytime, anywhere, so courageously.

    “We are not just worried, but concerned that members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria have consistently and persistently shown disregard to the laws of our country. What is of utmost concern to them is how to clandestinely impose another version of terrorism, garbed in the fake coats of Islam on the rest of us.

    “May we remind Nigerians that Boko Haram terrorism started, to paraphrase, President Muhammadu Buhari on his inaugural day speech to Nigerians, as “small fires, now causing large fires.” None of us is oblivious of the pains and sorrows inflicted on us by Boko Haram terrorists, because we allowed it blossomed, unchecked in celebration of some faulty and indiscernible liberties of democracy.
    “Displaying their familiar tradition in the week, just ended, IMN sect members again assailed Abuja in incredible thousands. Some media reports pegged the number as much as 10,000 sect members. Now, it’s rare to even have a presidential political rally in Abuja, boasting of this astounding crowd organized by IMN terrorists . How did anybody mobilize terrorists in such astonishing numbers into Abuja for a protest? Something must be amiss somewhere and some people delight in it.

    “It is the same siege they laid on Zaria City in Kaduna state. It is the same unlawful siege on Kano, Yobe or other states in the North. No one noticed the potential danger at the budding stage. And the Shiites sect expanded to what it is now, extending to Abuja, after Kaduna state Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai outlawed the sect at the state level.

    “In Abuja on their so-called “peaceful” protests, the IMN sect members did not only hurl insults and held the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to ransom and in contempt, but stoned the Police, the only civil security agency mandated by law to supervise their lawful protests. Police were compelled to necessarily use teargas canisters’ to disperse the unruly Shiites rented mob.”

    “The Coalition will be left with no option but to mobilize Nigerians against the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and to pass a vote of no confidence on him until he resigns from the office which he holds in trust for the rest of us. Enough is enough of the IMN threats which is already a negative signal within the FCT in view of their recklessness and violence posture to inflict pains on anyone without looking back.”

  • Release El-Zakzaky protesters storm National Assembly

    Release El-Zakzaky protesters storm National Assembly

    Hundreds of members of the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria, (IMN), Thursday stormed the National Assembly to protest the continued incarceration of their leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky by the Federal Government.

    El-Zakzaky was arrested in Kaduna in December 2015 after some members of his group were killed by soldiers for allegedly blocking the Kaduna-Zaria road.

    The IMN members were also accused of plotting to kill the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai.

    IMN promptly denied the accusation tagging it a ploy to justify the killing of over 300 of its members by soldiers.

    The protesters who gathered at the National Assembly gate were led by the secretary of the academic forum in Nigeria, Abdullahi Musa.

    The protesters said that they came to the National Assembly to ascertain the position of the Senate on the continued detention of El-Zakzaky, their leader.

    Musa told reporters, “This is the third time we are coming here. We submitted a lot of documents to the National Assembly but we are yet to get any response.

    “We submitted the third batch of documents Thursday and we came here today to hear from them.”

    Musa noted that although the Federal Government claimed that El-Zakzaky was kept in protective custody, members of IMN believed that government did not tell the truth.

    He said, “We do not believe in the so called protective custody. We want him freed so that he can go for his treatment. They have inflicted several injuries on him. What we ask for is that justice should prevail.”

    “They killed our member and government has been silent. We want to know what their position is.”

    Musa said that members of the movement would continue the protest until their leader was released.

    Police Divisional Crimes Officer at the National Assembly, Mr. Frances Anebi, who addressed the protesters, asked them to conduct themselves peacefully.

    On November 14, 2016 eight members of the movement were reported killed in Kano.

    A police sergeant was also said to have been dead when the police attempted to break a protest mounted by members of the movement.

  • IMN leader sues Fed Govt, Army, others

    IMN leader sues Fed Govt, Army, others

    The leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), popularly called the Shi’ite, Sheikh Ibrahim El- Zakzaky, has sued the Army, chief of Army Staff (COAS) and others at the Federal High Court, demanding N3 billion as damages.

    Others sued are the director-general, State Security Services (SSS), inspector general of Police (IGP) and the attorney-general of the federation (AGF).

    In the suit, the IMN leader, through his counsel, Femi Falana (SAN), Festus Okoye Esq, Maxwell Kyon Esq, among others, is seeking the enforcement of his right to life, personal liberty, freedom of movement, dignity of the human person and right to private and family life.

    The applicant is also seeking an order of the court to compel the respondents, jointly and severally, to pay him three billion naira as general damages for the illegal violation of his right to life, dignity of his person, fair hearing, privacy and private property.

    He is seeking a declaration that the violent invasion of his home at 1, Wali Road, Gyallessu, Zaria in Kaduna State, on December 14, 2015, is a violation of his rights to privacy and private property as guaranteed by the constitution.