Members of the Muslim sect, also known as Shi’ites, however, vowed to continue in their expression of dismay over the refusal of the government to obey multiple court orders directing the release of their leader, Shiekh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, through every legitimate means at their disposal.
Sheikh El-Zakzaky, who had been held since 2015 by the Department of State Services, DSS, marked his 68th birthday last weekend under ‘protective’ custody.
Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, has said it was not at odds with either the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari or any other constituted authority in Nigeria, in spite of intense provocation by agents of the present administration.
Speaking with Vanguard in Abuja, Sheikh Abdulrahman Abubakar, the Chairman, Free El-Zakzaky Campaign Committee of IMN, said: “We are not at odds with the government. The reality is that we are expressing our concerns and dismay as regards the continuous incarceration of our leader, who was attacked by the Nigerian army.
We believe the attack was at the instance of the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian army who is the President, Mr Buhari.
“Despite the Court order that the Sheikh is being detained illegally and should be released unconditionally, the government has refused to obey even as his condition of health is deteriorating. That’s why we have to keep expressing our views as regards what the government has done through regular protests which is a legitimate means.
“We have taken the government to the court yet the government still refused to obey a valid Court injunction that it is unconstitutional to detain somebody under ‘protective’ custody.
Through our regular street protests, we only want Nigerians to be the judges in El-Zakzaky’s case. We have to stand for justice.”
Asked if the group was on the verge of transforming into a ‘state’ within a state, Sheikh Abubakar retorted: “What action have we taken to show that we are becoming a state within a state? Can we be working on a parallel government within the Nigerian state yet take the federal government to a legitimate court constituted on the Nigerian laws?”
