By Khalid Idris
A court case between the members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and the Federal Government of Nigeria began on Monday the 18th of May 2016, at the Federal High Court in Kaduna, with lawyers of the Islamic Movement demanding the immediate release of Sheik Zakzaky in line with his fundamental human right as a citizen of Nigeria.
The lawyers also sought redress to make up for the destruction of properties and lives of their members in the Zaria massacre.
The lawyers of the Islamic Movement were led by Barrister Maxwell Kyon who together with his team presented their case to a presiding
judge. The accused included the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Burutai, and the Attorney General of Kaduna State Government.
The presiding judge had listened to myriad confessions from both the applicants and the defense lawyers who, after a brainstorming session, agreed to adjoin the case to 7 June, 2016 in order to give every side a sufficient time to prepare for the beginning of the hearing even though General Tukur Burutai did not any send defense counsel to represent him.
It could be recalled that the Nigerian Army was accused in December, 2015, of massacring more than one thousand Shias including women and children and buried hundreds in mass graves. Despite various condemnations from international communities, the leader of the movement Sheik Ibraheem Zakzaky, his wife and hundreds of his followers are still in detention without access to their relatives, and well-wishers.