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Tag: Shiites

  • There’ll be tragedy if Zakzaky dies in DSS custody -Shi’ites

    There’ll be tragedy if Zakzaky dies in DSS custody -Shi’ites

    The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shi’ites, on Wednesday warned that there will be monumental tragedy if its leader, Sheik Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has since December 2015 been in detention dies in government custody.

    The movement in a statement signed by its Spokesman, Ibrahim Musa in Kaduna Wednesday also dismissed two lawyers, Sadau Garba and Bello Ibrahim allegedly standing for Zakzaky before Department of State Services (DSS) as impostors.

    According to the statement, “We demand that our Leader and the wife must be released unconditionally without delay.

    “It will be a tragedy of monumental proportions should our leader go blind in detention or suffer further physical disability due to him being denied access to adequate medical attention,” the movement said without giving details.

     “We understand those that sanctioned his detention and those detaining him want to humiliate him and make sure that he goes completely blind before he is eventually released thereby rendering him powerless the moment he is released from unconstitutional and illegal detention.

    “The health of our leader and the wife continues to deteriorate on a daily basis and those holding him in custody are playing politics with his detention and that of his wife.

    “We urge the Nigerian people and the international community to intervene in this crude violation of the fundamental rights of our leader,” the IMN said.

    On the lawyers, IMN said, “The Islamic Movement in Nigeria wants to make it clear that the said Sadau Garba and Bello Ibrahim can only be solicitors to the Department of State Services, with who they are in constant contact, and not that of the Movement or our revered leader. It is the Department of State Services that briefed the two and are giving them access to their facilities and encouraging them to pose as solicitors to our revered leader and urging them to write letters begging the Department to release our leader on compassionate grounds.

    “On the basis of this dubious alliance the Department has been giving the two unrestricted access and have been sending out dubious feelers that they will release our revered leader to the family the moment they are begged by the two to do so.

    “We recall that the said Sadau Garba has in the past attempted to swerve the course of the case involving Sheikh’s fundamental rights by claiming that that Sheikh told him that the DSS should be excluded from the matter as one of the respondents in the case which turned out to be contrived by those that briefed him,” said the IMN.

    It went on: “We want to make it abundantly clear that that the said Sadau Garba and Bello Ibrahim are not solicitors to the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and have not been briefed by our leader to represent him in any of the cases pending in court.

    “The said Sadau Garba and Bello Ibrahim are acting a script carefully contrived by those holding our revered leader and their claim to being our solicitors and that of our leader is baffling, erroneous, and mischievous and amounts to professional misconduct.

    “The two solicitors have been set up by the enemies of the Movement to give the impression that there is doubt as regards the true solicitors of the Movement and Shaikh and further prolong the detention of our leader.

    “The Islamic Movement in Nigeria therefore makes it abundantly clear that Femi Falana, SAN is the leader of the Legal Team and ably assisted by Festus Okoye Esq and Maxwell Kyon Esq,” the IMN posited.

  • Re: Army/Shiites Clash

    SIR: The Nation editorial of Tuesday, August 9, refers. Although I have not read the full reports submitted by the commission of inquiry set up by the government of Kaduna State to look into the circumstances culminating in the clash between the army and the Shiites in Zaria last year December, going through the arguments marshalled by the army in their defence against the allegation of human rights violation levelled against them, I am convinced that the current government at the centre was going for a Machiavellian approach in its bid to meet the December deadline given to the military to end insurgency in the war torn North-east.

    According to the army, the sect barricaded the road through which the Chief of Army Staff and his convoy were travelling. Added to this was that the sect members were armed with dangerous weapons like catapult, knives, and swords. On the other hand, the sect has claimed to be a peaceful group. Of course, one need not be told that a peaceful group would not obstruct roads let alone be armed with dangerous weapons if the claim of the army should ever be taken hook, line and sinker. And, even at that, should the supposed offenders be killed like fowls? Not even the teargas, rubber bullets or any other less sophisticated means employed to disperse the sect members. The army opened fire on the civilian Shiites, being convinced that they acted in accordance with Section 33(2c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Can we then establish a riot, insurrection or mutiny here?

    It is understandable that Zaria, though not in the North-eastern zone, is volatile like any other city in the Northern part of the country. Bearing this in mind therefore should not be an excuse for any armed men to transfer aggression to non-insurgents as this could further provoke war from another angle. We should not forget that at the time Boko Haram started, we were about celebrating our victory over militancy in the Niger Delta. The celebration was disrupted by the extrajudicial killing of the leader of Boko Haram, Yusuff Muhammed in 2009, and since then peace has been distant from us.  So, much care is needed now that the Boko Haram insurgents are on the verge of losing the war, given the claim of the military, for us not to have this victory halted as well.

    Let me put it straight that no development-minded citizen would speak in favour of road obstructions under any circumstances. In the same vein, no avowed humanist would support the army reactions for such reactions could not be considered equal, though opposite, to the earlier actions exhibited by the sect. Not minding the means employed to attain the target, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces would not come out to express his dissatisfaction publicly over the incident but would rather promise to act on the issue after receiving the reports as if that was the first case of road blocking encountered by the army and others in uniform. In Ibadan where I reside, hardly will a week pass without experiencing road block in some areas for trading, religious and ceremonial purposes. Yet, no civilian or military life has ever been reported to have been illegitimately taken in such circumstances. So, why should the Shiite’s case be a different one in a country where preservation of human life is dearly needed at this critical time having lost a large number of our brothers and sisters to the ravaging war mounted by Boko Haram?

    While wishing our gallant military sound victory over these few vermin called Boko Haram, I salute the uncommon courage of the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el Rufai for being objective in the handling of the case involving the sect labelled controversial by their Sunni counterparts. I appeal to fellow citizens to stay away from public gatherings that could generate road obstruction for this could be mistaken for a riot, insurrection or mutiny by the trigger-happy men in uniform in order not to have our precious lives cut short by the executors of the Machiavellian philosophy.

     

    • George OludareIbikunle,

    Ibadan, Oyo State

  • Shi’ites and the Free Zakzaky trek to Abuja

    Shi’ites and the Free Zakzaky trek to Abuja

    Correspondent Abdulgafar Alabelewe reflects on the Shi’ites Movement’s planned trek to Abuja to press for the release of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Yakubu El-Zakzaky. He also chronicles the lamentation and plea of his son, Mohammed Ibraheem in a recent open letter.

    For those who know members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as the Shi’ites Movement, it is easier to conclude that trekking in form of  agitation for one right or the other is their trademark, which people of other faiths and sects in the Northern part of the country have had to contend with in the last few decades.

    Members of the movement, usually clad in black dress are known for trekking in their thousands, including women and children from major Northern Nigeria cities to Zaria, at least once or twice a year. One is usually in commemoration of its annual Quds Day protest where they condemn Israeli’s occupation of Palestine.

    Concerns have however been raised over the proposed trek by members of the sect to Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja to further press home their demand for the release their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Yakubu El-Zakzaky, who has been in security custody for more than eight months.

    The Nation learnt that, members of the Islamic Movement has since the arrest of Sheikh Zakzaky staged several protests in Kaduna city to ask for his unconditional release. Their demand however appeared to have fallen on deaf ears hence the resolve to take it to another dimension.

    The Shi’ites’ latest strategy may also not be unconnected with Zakzaky son’s latest outburst and emotional open letter over his father’s condition in security custody.

    30-year old Mohammed Ibraheem El-Zakzaky had said, “In an unusual twist, the custodians/captors/detainers of my parents, the DSS claimed that my father, is being kept in “protective custody” “because he is a vulnerable individual” and according to their lawyer, it is the DSS’s duty to provide protection to vulnerable citizens!

    According to him, “Adding salt to injury, they further  claimed to have spent five million naira on his health alone. It is unbearably hard enough that I’ve had to watch helplessly as they killed all those innocent people, including my three remaining brothers.

    “But this claim was the worst affront to my sense of self, more painfully insulting than all before it. Ever since the statement was made, I have made several attempts to type a response. Each time I begin to type, my fingers shake from excess of wrath, anger, despair and the all too fresh realisation of the truly unbelievable depths of insincerity, hypocrisy and cruelty.

    “I always think and question the humanity of the cabal that masterminded the Zaria massacre. How can it be rationally explained that we share the same taxonomy as this brutal breed of beasts wearing the uniform of the Nigerian army, who executed this inhuman massacre?

    “This is a most grievous insult, the gravity of which is unfathomable to say the least. Although, my parents are not being held in a prison cell, they are certainly not living in a comfortable state, nor are they ‘Safe.’ In the eight months since the ‘Nigerian Army’ killed and secretly buried over a thousand people, including my three brothers, my aunt and a lot of the people I hold most dear, while also shooting my mother 7 times and depriving my father of an eye, as well as crippling his arm and leg. The DSS, which claims to be “protecting him” has also denied him access to his doctors, legal counsel, and has only allowed us to visit only when it suited them.

    “In the past eight months, I have driven to Abuja several times, only to be turned back. Yet these people have the rudeness to post my picture in the media to give credence to the idea that all is well, insulting us in the most cowardly of ways. I am thirty years old, I earned my first five million Naira when I was still a university student, yet my own father the one who brought me into this world, after being so injured, physically, emotionally and worst of all deprived of even the most basic of human rights, is being charitably expended upon with five million naira (gratitude for the generosity of the masters of murderous beasts).

    “As his sight continues to fail day by day, the DSS continues to refuse, under the guise of bureaucratic excuses, our request that a known qualified doctor be allowed to attend to him. And then there is the visitation rights. In eight months, I have only been allowed to visit four times, but we have been stood up in Abuja for twice as many times. Then there is the fact that even though my father is currently incarcerated, it is he who pays for his expenses down to the fuel for the generator in the place where he is being held, not to mention the extortionist behaviour of some of the agents in charge of handling my parents.

    “In our fourth and final visit, which was yesterday, they brought in a professional camera man sporting a nice SLR (Single-lens reflex Camera or; Fancy Cameras in Short) to rudely take more of these propagandist pictures designed to deceive the people about the true nature of what is going on, I’m sure you’ll be seeing them in the papers soon enough.

    “Then there is his health, specifically the health of his last remaining eye, which is already half blind. The attending single doctor, whose name and qualification I do not know, nor has the DSS informed me, has already arbitrarily and single-handedly proscribed one of his eyes as lost for good, without recourse to a second opinion.

    “Granted, in my father’s own words, he does “appreciate” the doctor’s efforts and the courtesy of certain members of the DSS; I for one am not grateful, I cannot be. I deserve answers; we all do. If the DSS that is a Government organisation of fundamental importance, is proudly insulting me by claiming to be spending five million naira on my father; Ibraheem Zakzaky has a son, who is alive and willing to spend multiple of that amount (and I can afford it). But I cannot, because the opportunity to do such … is blocked by the ‘Dutifully Protective Custodians.’ DPC. (Death Prospecting Cooperation)…

    “I want to call all those who believe in the inalienable right of all human beings to fairness, justice and dignity, to help by joining me in a redoubled effort. We must protest this seemingly never ending series of outrages; we must make our voices heard. We must act before it is too late. We must demonstrate wherever we are able. I for one will walk alone on my two feet from my father’s house in Zaria to Abuja if I have to, I will sit in front of any office for as long as it takes, I will stop eating and drinking for as long as it takes.

    “As God is my witness, there is no time. My father needs access to doctors now! Right Now! As God is my witness, I swear that having survived the unthinkable, my father is currently being wearied down into a blind man. He is being slowly crippled, destroyed. Compliments of the DSS and co. (But) enough is enough. Post the dammed pictures; make all the lies; but do not insult us. Let us send doctors, let us save my father’s eye,” he said.

    THE TREK

    Although, a section of IMN members, particularly women had last week embarked on a similar foot journey from Zaria to Abuja, the security authorities have vowed to prevent the acclaimed proposed mass trek of the Shi’ites to the FCT.

    The Shi’ites women who branched Kaduna on their journey to Abuja last week told newsmen that their mission was to seek Zakzaky’s release, so that he can get proper medical attention.

    It was later gathered that the women took their protest to the National Human Rights Commission’s office in Abuja, but never bothered to locate Zakzaky.

    The protesters who were chanting, ‘free Sheikh Zakzaky’ condemned what they described as ‘continuous detention’ of their leader in the custody of Directorate of Security Service (DSS) since December 2015.

    Speaking on behalf of the women, Fauziya Saidu, said the protest will continue until their leader is released unconditionally to avail him the opportunity to seek proper medical treatment. She alleged that military personnel along Zaria-Kaduna road were busy taking their photographs on their way to Kaduna the purpose of which they did not know.

    According to her, “most of us here are widows and orphans. We are only demanding that our leader be released for medical treatment. We will continue this match to Abuja and we will not leave until our Sheikh, his wife and others are released.”

    She said “If they are really protecting our leader as their lawyers have claimed, then we would want to ask them what form of threat is the visit of family members and doctors, considering the impending and dangerous situation threatening to turn him blind…?”

    THE SECURITY

    The acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris has however assured that the police will take actions to ensure that there is no breach of security by the members of the sect as they plan the mass trek.

    The IGP who spoke through a Deputy Inspector General of police (DIG), Habila Joshack, while receiving anti-Shi’ite protesters in Abuja recently, said the laws of the county respects the religious rights of every citizen, but that such rights should not be abused.

    The IGP equally vowed to apply appropriate sanctions on any protester who fails to abide by the laws of Nigeria.

    An anti-Shi’ite trek protesters under the auspices of Northern Inter-Faith and Religious Organization for Peace (NIFROP) had earlier told the IGP to immediately act to forestall ‘whatever mayhem’ IMN members were planning.

    Another Non-Governmental Organisation, Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism ((CATE) at a press conference in Abuja last week condemned the plan, saying it poses security risk.

    The group’s National Coordinator, Mr. Gabriel Onoja urged security operatives to immediately prepare to manage the situation in order to avoid what happened previously between the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai and the sect.

    IMN react

    The President of Media Forum, Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Musa Ibrahim in turn has accused security operatives of planning to attack IMN youth trekking from Zaria to Abuja to demand the release of the group’s leader.

    In a statement he issued last week, the movement’s spokesperson alleged that the security operatives were planning to attack the youths, adding that some weapons would be claimed to have been found on them.

  • Shiites deny link with Boko Haram

    The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) otherwise known as Shiites yesterday dismissed a report linking it with the terror sect, Boko Haram.

    Spokesman for the Shittes, Mallam Ibrahim Musa told The Nation that a publication entitled “Revealed: Shekau’s surrender throws Boko Haram into leadership and tactical confusion” was nothing more than propaganda against IMN.

    He denied suggestion that the movement was a recruitment arm of Boko Haram.

    “It is a complete lie and hateful propaganda but those who are seeking to destroy the IMN are persistently trying to link us with Boko Haram,” he said.

    “It does not even make sense when you recall that last year, Boko Haram planted a bomb that killed more than thirty of our members during our peaceful mass trek from Kano to Zaria.

    “Boko Haram has never hidden their disdain for our very peaceful ways and we do not share similar ideology.

    “Thus, it is sheer deliberate wickedness by those who are disseminating fabricated information that IMN is a recruiting arm of Boko Haram.

    “Nothing could be farther from the truth; they are hell-bent on their agenda to annihilate us,” he stated.

    In a separate statement, the group alleged a fresh state assault on its members during a peaceful protest in Zaria on Thursday.

    “The thousands of Muslims that gathered for the Free Zakzaky peaceful protest were tear gassed by mobile policemen as the procession neared its termination point in Zaria metropolis,” he said.

    “Reports have confirmed that the security operatives fired upon the protesters with canisters of tear gas near Kofar Doka in Zaria, a place where a dozen of Muslims were killed in 1996 in a similar protest when the dictator, Abacha arrested Sheikh Zakzaky.

    “However, a similar protest held in Kaduna metropolis ended peacefully even though a contingent of mobile policemen followed the protesters demanding the release of Sheikh Zakzaky.

    “Similarly Free Zakzaky protests were held all over the major towns of Northern Nigeria. Major towns like Kano, Gusau, Yola, and Potiskum witnessed large turnout of people calling on the federal government to release the Leader of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Zakzaky, who has been in custody without trial for the past eight months.

    “The Islamic Movement has been organising peaceful protest such as this from time to time to press home its demand for the unconditional release of Sheikh Zakzaky to attend to his failing health since he was shot and 1000+ of his followers killed by the Army in December, 2015.”

  • Shi’ites reject judicial commission’s report

    The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also called Shi’ites, has rejected the report of the Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba-led Judicial Commission of Enquiry, which probed the December 12-14 clash between members and the Army.

    It said the government already decided that IMN was guilty while the panel ensured its leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, did not get a hearing.

    The movement blamed what it termed “massacre” of its members on President Muhammadu Buhari, alleging that the President was briefed ahead of the killings, which he ordered.

    Addressing a news conference in Kaduna yesterday, Chairman of Free Zakzaky Campaign Abdurrahman Abubakar Yola said: “It seems fairly obvious that the Judicial Commission of Enquiry (JCI) was a typical commission with a pre-determined mandate and report.

    “While the Kaduna State government claimed that the commission will be fact-finding and determine the causes of the clash, it already decided that the movement is guilty and charged over 400 of our members to court.

    “The charges against them are still on in five different High Courts in Kaduna, and they have been denied bail on the grounds that over 250 of them allegedly killed one soldier, while no single soldier is being tried for the death of over 1,000 members of the movement.

    “It is also incongruous that a Judicial Commission that visited persons not directly involved in the crisis, refused to visit the Kaduna Central Prison where over 70 of the detainees are nursing gunshot wounds, and yet claiming it wants to determine the number of persons injured.

    “The same commission did not find it convenient to ascertain the number of our members that died in prison and police custody.

    “The commission also ensured that our leader did not get a hearing. Our legal team, led by Femi Falana (SAN) and Festus Okoye (Esq.), attempted to secure access to him to no avail. The commission also ordered security agencies not to produce him because they didn’t want him to testify. It is based on this that the government, the military and other security agencies found it convenient to lie against him.

    “The Islamic Movement in Nigeria is, therefore, convinced that the Judicial Commission of Enquiry delivered on its mandate of returning a verdict that will lead to the unconstitutional banning of the movement and its activities.”

  • ‘Shi’ites must be punished’

    The Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN) has said members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Shi’ites must not go unpunished for their role in the December 12 to 14, 2015, clash with the Army in Zaria.

    The group called on Christian leaders to be careful of  inflammatory statements, saying it is not a Christian virtue for leaders to urge their members to carry arms against their Muslim brethren.

    A communiqué by its Chairman, Sheikh Yusuf Sambo Rigachikun, yesterday said the Shi’ites must face the full wrath of the law for their role in the clash because, according to him, their attitude towards the Army was unIslamic.

    Sheikh Rigachikun noted that even before the report of the panel of enquiry, the sect showed signs of guilt, stressing that boycotting the commission only reiterated their guilt.

    The communiqué reads: “From the lectures, it has become obvious that Shi’ism is not Islam and Muslims should acquire the knowledge of their religion, so they are not derailed from the true teaching of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Muslims should also respect and revere the companions of the Prophet (SAW), and should protect their reputation.

    “From the little we heard about the report of the commission of enquiry, the council calls on the government to release the White Paper on the crisis. This will help to curb the menace of Shi’ism in our society.

    “The council condemns calls by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to its members to take up arms to protect themselves. It’s unbecoming of a body of clergymen to make such unguarded calls. Meanwhile, we call on Muslims to be law abiding and be vigilant.

    “The government of the day needs our support and prayers to survive these economic turbulent times. We call on Muslims to be supportive and endure these harsh times, which by Allah’s grace, will be over with time.”

  • Shi’ites fear for El-Zakzaky’s health

    Shi’ites fear for El-Zakzaky’s health

    •Demand his release

    The Islamic Movement in Nigeria, otherwise known as Shi’ites, has alerted to the deteriorating health of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and demanded his release to seek medical attention.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Kaduna, Chairman, Resource Forum of the movement, Prof. Abdullahi Danladi, insisted that El-Zakzaky needed medical attention following the injury he sustained during the Army/Shiites clash in Zaria last year.

    The group expressed fear that El-Zakzaky, who had been under “protective custody of the Department of State Service (DSS)”, might die due to his failing health.

    Prof Danladi added that El-Zakzaky’s wife and other members were critically injured but still being held in military detention.

    According to him, the wife had bullets lodged close to her spinal cord and in an attempt to remove the bullet, she became paralysed.

    He called on the government to release them for treatment.

    “The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) is deeply concerned about the health of our incarcerated leader and believes that it is in the interest of the Nigerian state, and those holding him, to release him unconditionally to enable him attend to his health.”

     

  • Zaria and the Shi’ites without El-Zakzaky

    Zaria and the Shi’ites without El-Zakzaky

    Though the group is continuing with its numerous programmes and activities, there is no doubt that last December clash between a detachment of the Nigerian Army and members of Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shi’ites movement and the subsequent arrest and detention of its national leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Yakubu El-Zakzaky, has thrown the group off balance. Abdulgafar Alabelewe reports.

    SHEIKH Ibrahim Zakzaky has, for about three decades, remained the leader of the Shi’ites group in Nigeria. Not only has he called the shot in the movement, he is also the link between the financiers of the the Islamic sect in Iran and its Nigerian followers. Stories, as gathered from sources within and outside the movement, have it that that Zakzaky, the acclaimed founder of the Shi’ites movement in Nigeria, came in contact with the the Iranians who lured him into the movement in the late 70s. To his credit, he succeeded in gathering a large followership within a short period.
    Born on May 5, 1953, the outspoken Zakzaky was said to have started propagating the Shi’ite sect of Islam when he was still a student at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. This was during the time of the Iranian revolution, which saw Iran’s monarchy overthrown and replaced with an Islamic republic under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini.
    An elder brother to Zakzaky, Malam Sani Yakubu once said that, “when Ibrahim graduated from the School of Arabic and Islamic Studies (SAS) in Kano, he started writing letters to different countries especially China and Iran. He developed interest in relating with China largely because China had revolutionalised her economy through agriculture and moved her people out of hunger.
    “Iran was responding to his letters by sending their books to him; trying to lure him into their creed of Shiite. Because of that, he turned his attention to Iran, especially after the Ayatollah’s revolution in 1979. They started having meetings in England every year, before they moved their meetings to Iran. When Iran attained certain level of development, he sometimes travelled there twice in a year.
    “When we saw that, we decided to start counselling him, particularly with our teachers, Malam Sani Abdulqadir and Malam Usman Maccido. This is because even at that time we know that Shia is not Islam. Based on that, we sat him down to tell him the implication of what he was doing. He kept saying that he was not into Shi’a that he was only into struggle for revival of Islam. This started in early 1980s. When we realised that he would not listen, largely because it involves a lot of money, we left him alone.
    “But our elder brother, Malam Abdulqadir Yakubu, did not stop counselling him. In fact, about a week or so before their clash with the Army, our elder brother wrote him. In the letter, he told him that what they were doing is not part of Islam.”
    The Shia according to El-Zazakky
    Zakzaky believed that the establishment of a republic along similar religious lines in Nigeria would be feasible. Though, he was detained several times due to accusations of civil disobedience and recalcitrance under military regimes in Nigeria during the 1980s and 1990s, the 2015 clash of the Shi’ites and Army seems the most devastating to the group so far.
    The Shi’ites group before the December 12-14, 2015 incident was unknown to many, especially Nigerians of Southern extraction. To Northerners however, they were a group of extremists who often disturb non-members’ peace.
    An average northerner and other Nigerian resident in the North has had one unpleasant encounter or the other with the Zakzaky group. It is either one’s movement was at one time or another disrupted by protesting Shi’ite members, or they grounded activities in areas where their events took place.
    During their numerous processions, the group which allegedly has its own security forces, subjected other road users to security checks, in some cases force motorists to one lane of a dual carriage way a or even block the road in many cases.
    Reports have it that, members of the movement had at different times forced convoy of the Emir of Zazzau, who is the Chairman of the Kaduna State Traditional Rulers Council, Alhaji Shehu Idris and that of former Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero to change their routes. The same treatment was what the Army resisted in 2015, when similar procession insisted that the Chief of Army Staff’s convoy must change route.
    And the residents rejoice
    Residents of Gyellesu, a Zaria community where Sheikh Zakzaky resides have bitter tales to tell about their living with the Shi’ites. Though, they could not complain before December 2015, due to fear of intimidations, the area went into jubilation when Zakzaky was whisked away.
    A Chieftain of Gyellesu community, Malam Mu’izzu Daruddeen recently said, Zazzau Emirate is now safe and conducive without Sheik Ibrahim El-zakzaky. He said, the ancient city and its environs had recorded “sudden positive change” in its day-to-day activities.
    According him, “as peace loving organisation and patriotic citizens of this nation, we are in support of anything that will promote peace, unity and harmonious relationship among people. Every resident of Zaria is affected directly or indirectly by the self-acclaimed powers and disregard for traffic rules by the Shi’ite members in Zaria, especially when it comes to the use of public roads.
    “These Shi’ite members consider any other person as a second class citizen who has no rights and privileges. Whenever the leader of the Shi’ite was going for preaching, he would be escorted by youths bearing dangerous weapons. These boys traumatised and brutally dealt with anybody while El-zakzaky was on transit. Complaints to police at different times did not yield any result,” he said.
    When El-zakzaky was in Gyallesu, the area became a home to all kinds of criminals because his boys did not allow uniform personnel into the area, no matter the level of crime committed. These boys used to search anybody that is coming into the area irrespective of his or her status.
    “Again, once they lock up the gates at night you have no right to go out for whatever reason. The kind of loyalty these boys accorded El-zakzaky was second to none. They see him as a messiah. They neither have respect for constitution nor any constituted authority. His instruction is the final.” Daruddeen said.
    Cracks in the wall
    However, since the detention of the IMN leader, things have not been the same with the Shi’ite group. One, the December incident has no doubt crippled the group’s excesses and robbed it of its excessive powers. Secondly, the Zakzaky who has the direct link with those funding the group in Iran is out of reach of his followers.
    His absence has equally led to what can be termed as the fictionalization of the Shi’ite group. Though, its leader yet unknown, a faction of the movement has, since the arrest of Zakzaky dissociated itself from the Zakzaky led IMN. It has equally continued to preach against Zakzaky the principles for which the detained leader stood.
    The IMN which felt threatened by the the development recently issued a warning circular to its members. The circular issued by a chieftain of the IMN Media Forum, Abdulmumini Giwa, alleged that the faction was a parallel Shi’ite group created by the Israeli and Saudi Arabian authorities.
    According to Giwa in the circular published on the official website of the movement, “I will like to use this medium to remind my fellow brothers in Islam that a parallel Shi’ite group has been founded by Israel and Saudi Arabia to fight against the Islamic Movement in Nigeria which they consider as the only threat to them.
    “They are working hand-in-hand with the compromised Nigerian security apparatus to ensure they stop the Islamic Movement under the leadership of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky. The Israeli’s are after fighting the increasing Iranian influence while the Saudi’s are against the fast spreading of Shi’ism in Africa which is a threat to their terror laden Wahabism.
    “Some of the steps they have taken includes founding a fake Shi’ite organization to counter the growth and strength of IMN. You will notice that the only thing they do is attack the personality and person of the IMN leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky.Their aim is not to preach love for Ahli Bayt but to drive people away from Sheikh Zakzaky who they see as a threat.
    “The Saudis have invested millions of dollars on this contract and are not only funding the Arabic speaking idiots to spread Wahabism and institute lies against Shi’ites and Shi’ism, they are also bribing northern state governors to always clampdown on the IMN members to scare them away from the revered Sheikh.
    “The attack, killing and subsequent arrest of members of thhe IMN in Zaria last December was part of the plan which they are still pursuing. Currently they are sponsoring campaigns on social media to discredit the personality of Sheikh Zakzaky and spread lies and calumny against him, and by all means show people that he is not Shi’ite so that they can pull away his followers, supporters and sympathizers who they see as following him because of Shi;ism. Most of those presently engaged in this smear campaign are people of questionable character who pose as religious persons.
    “You will always see them pretending to be Shi’ites and attacking Sheikh Zakzaky. I advice that you remain steadfast and resolute as always, for they have already failed as usual,” the circular read.
    In the area funding however, the Shi’ite group have practically resulted to taxing members to run their programmes. Though, they have state leaders, none of them is yet to assume Zakzaky’s position as the custodian of the movement’s resources and power.
    Similarly, one would observe from their recent events that the once powerful Shi’ite group has now become a friendly, and ‘law abiding’ Islamic sect. Law abiding in the sense that, they are now conscious of the existence of security agencies. Agreed, they still don’t get police permission to stage protests or processions, but they now quickly disperse when security agents appear to stop their gatherings.
    The group held its annual Qud’s Day procession in several Northern cities last week, without any reported attack or harassment of other citizens. All these are indications that, Shi’ite without Zakzaky is no longer at ease.

  • Army planning to steal bodies from mass grave – Shi’ites

    Army planning to steal bodies from mass grave – Shi’ites

     The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), popularly known as Shi’ites, has alleged that the Nigerian Army is planning to exhume bodies of their members allegedly buried in a mass grave in Kaduna in a bid to reduce the number of dead bodies.

    Meanwhile, the Army, in a swift reaction, rejected the allegation saying, “it is a concoction of lies and deliberate effort by the IMN to portray the the Nigerian Army’s image negatively.”

    The IMN, in a statement signed by its spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, said since the disclosure of the existence of a mass grave at the  judicial commission of inquiry by officials of the Kaduna State government, the Nigerian Army, which initially tried to debunk the existence of a mass grave in their testimonies, has been uncomfortable.

    The statement reads in part: “Reports reaching the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) have it that some unscrupulous people, who were behind the massacre of hundreds of unarmed citizens and their secret burial in a mass grave, are planning to secretly and unilaterally exhume the corpses in an effort to lower the figure of those buried therein in the event of a subsequent full blown international investigation of their crime.

    “When it became obvious through confessions of officers of the state government that mass grave exists, and that officers and men of the Nigerian Army were fully involved in the construction of the mass grave as well as the secret burial of hundreds of IMN members they killed, the Nigerian Army officials have been working out how they could at least significantly put down the number of corpses buried in the grave. At a follow-up testimony at the judicial commission, they bluntly refused to acknowledge the hundreds killed and buried in the mass grave, claiming that they handed over only “a few” to state officials for burial.

    “The Islamic Movement in Nigeria wishes to make it categorically clear that the site of the mass grave where the Kaduna State government admitted that it had buried 347 of those killed by the Nigerian military in Zaria last December is a crime scene, hence any attempt to tamper with it would not only be taken as a sacrilege and unacceptable, but also as an attempt to tamper with an important exhibit, which is a serious crime in itself.

    However, the Nigerian Army in a statement by the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 1 Division Headquarters, Kaduna, Colonel Abdul Usman: said the allegation is a figment of their jaundiced imagination and a campaign of calumny against the Army.

    He said: “The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn  to an online report by Sahara Reporters on  April 28, 2016 in which the Islamic Movement in Nigeria alleged that the Nigerian Army is planning to steal bodies from mass grave in Zaria. It further, stressed that a contingent of soldiers have been deployed to keep guard at the site of the mass grave in an effort to prevent the uncovering of the hundreds of bodies buried there. It is simply a figment of their jaundiced imagination and a campaign of calumny againt the Army.

    “The Army strongly and categorically reject the  IMN’s unfounded n spurious allegation. It is simply a concoction of lies and deliberate effort by the IMN to portray the the Nigerian Army’s image negatively.

    “The Nigerian Army will like to make it abundantly clear that, it has never contemplated such act at anytime. It’s of no relevance whatsoever.  we are focused on discharging our constitutional duty as a professional military force. We expect any responsible media to double check such weighty allegations before going to press. Nigeria’s national security and interest must never be toyed with.

    “The Nigerian Army as a law abiding entity had already stated its facts regarding the December 12-14 incident in Zaria before the Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba led Judicial Commission of Inquiry.For the avoidance of doubt, the commission had on Wednesday 27th April, 2016 visited all the sites of the incident in Zaria, including the grave site in Kaduna. ”

  • Zaria clash: Shi’ites withdraw from judicial panel of inquiry 

    Zaria clash: Shi’ites withdraw from judicial panel of inquiry 

    Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), the Shi’ites,  Tuesday announced its withdrawal from the Judicial Commission of Inquiry, even as the Commission sits Wednesday after several adjournments to investigate the December 2015 Zaria  clash between the Shi’ites, and the Nigerian Army.

    Chairman of the Commission, Justice Muhammadu Lawal Garba had last Monday adjourned till Wednesday to enable the Shiites have access to their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky.

    However, addressing the press Tuesday, legal team of the movement, led by Mr. Festus Okoye, said since they could not get access to the Shiites leader after several adjournments, they have no option than to withdraw completely from appearing before the commission, as they cannot file memorandum without hearing from Zakzaky.

    Okoye said, “The legal team has resolved that in the light of the realities of lack of access,  briefing and representation for the Movement, the most honourable thing to do is to withdraw completely from appearance before the Commission in whatever form and manner and to cease any form of representation in whatever form or manner for the Movement.

    “The legal team thought it could lend its support to the Movement to tell the Nigerian public and the international community its own version of the events of the 12th to 14th of December 2015 but all efforts aimed at getting proper briefing from the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria met a brick wall.

    “The legal team of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria will not be used and will not allow itself to be used to legitimize a predetermined position and agenda against the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and the Islamic Movement in Nigeria.

    “The Islamic Movement in Nigeria believes that the Nigerian people are entitled to know the truth of what happened in Zaria and Kaduna and will explore alternative means and avenues of letting the Nigerian people know the truth of what happened,” he said.

    Corroborating Okoye’s position, the daughter of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria leader, Suhaila Ibrahim El-Zakzaky recounted her ordeal of what she described as the bloody invasion of their home by men of the Nigerian Army.

    She said they were observing the early morning prayers when they gain entrance and raid the house.

    According to her, “We were at home when the attacks on the Hussainniya started. It was around 10pm at night, we heard gunshots from afar. It turned out that the military were there. They were shooting at people and advancing towards the house. We spent our night with shooting going on.

    “It was morning when a lot of people were performing their early morning prayers, they got the opportunity to come close to the house and that was when they eventually gain entrance to house. They killed as much people as they found. They burnt some alive. We were in the house but in the part that was not burnt down but I think they assumed that everybody was burnt. So they didn’t search. We spent the night like that.

    “In the morning, I think they came to search the house to see what is there. I myself, my parents, my brothers and some other members of the movement were there when they discovered where we were hiding. They randomly shot at us for few seconds or mother. When it finally stopped, that was when we realized that my father and mother have been shot. And my three brothers have been shot dead and other people they were with. They took us away one by one. We were beaten up and taking away in trucks to the Army depot in Zaria. Since then we lost contact till date. We were detained for four days,” she narrated.