By Ibrahim Usman
In their thousands, members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria led by His Eminence Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, converged in Sokoto on Saturday for the grand and long-awaited fundraising to assist displaced and exiled members affected by the state-sponsored onslaught led by governor Alu Magatakarda Wammako.
Over hundred million naira was realized on the spot from the collection of various zones and individuals during the event which took place at the Sultan Abubakar mosque.
Malam Yaqoub Yahaya, Ameer of Katsina zone who addressed the mammoth crowd said the calamities that befell members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria was a blessing in disguise: “Any calamity in a just cause is a blessing. We can see that from what happened in Sokoto, the Movement has waxed stronger more than before. Therefore do not relent in a just cause, for the truth always triumphs with Allah’s backing”.
Also speaking, Sheikh Muhammad Mahmud Turi called on members to donate with all they possessed as brothers’ keepers, “to show to the perpetrators of the violence that we give our lives and wealth as well in a just cause”.
The Ameer of Sokoto, Malam Kasimu Umar Rimin Tawaye, a victim of the atrocity, recalled that, as a result of the offensive instigated and sponsored by the Sokoto State government under Alu Magatakarda Wammako sometime in 2007, members of the Islamic movement were brutally attacked by hired thugs.
“Over 160 residential buildings and business premises of our brothers worth millions of naira were either destroyed, vandalized or set ablaze. Over hundred students of Sheikh Zakzaky were also arrested and sentenced to more than hundred years spread across different prisons in the country”, he told VOA Hausa Service reporter.
It would be recalled that, the incarcerated members were released in 2014 for lack of concrete evidence linking them to the alleged murder, after spending 6 years in prison custody.