Shiites in the country, under the aegis of Academic Forum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (AFIMN) yesterday staged a protest at the National Assembly demanding the intervention of the legislature for the release of the Shiite leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, and his followers currently in detention.
AFMIN members, comprising largely students and academics, carried placards with inscriptions condemning the detention of Zakzaky andothers who were arrested in December 2015 following a military crackdown on his house in Zaria, Kaduna state.
Leader of the group, Shuaibu Ahmad, said AFIMIN had earlier in the week submitted “a catalogue of documents on the Zaria massacre” to the leadership of the National Assembly, saying the protest was a follow-up to get feedback from the legislature.
However, security guards at the National Assembly gate ordered the group’s members to disperse, making the protesters to retreat to Shehu Shagari Way by the Federal Secretariat.
A detachment of mobile policemen, however, arrived at the scene as the group was addressing the press, firingIn a statement issued to press men, signed by the AFIMIN president, the group lamented what is called persecution of the Shiites despite their peaceful disposition. It added that IMN had existed in Nigeria “for nearly 40 years with no single record of crime.”
“Despite the gruesome human right violation, the brutal crackdown on innocent citizens, the arrest of Sheikh Zakzaky Ibraheem Zakzaky and hundreds of other brothers and sisters, destruction of properties, perpetrated by the Nigerian Army in Zaria under the watchful eyes of
the government, and the propaganda instituted by the Army and the government seeking to cover up their crime against humanity, the Islamic Movement still remain peaceful, shun away from violence and chooses to follow legal processes.”
It recalled that during the December 2015 event “many were burnt to death including a biological sister of Sheikh Zakzaky and his nephew. Three additional children of Sheikh were killed in cold blood. Worse still is that Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife were shot several times and incarcerated while the legal proceedings to gain his freedom are being frustrated by government.” several tear-gas canisters which brought the protest to an abrupt end.
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