Today, 3rd June, 2021, marks 2000 days of illegal detention of Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife. Since the infamous Zaria-massacre in the year 2015, the duo have been, and are still being detained, despite the several court orders granting their freedom.
The public are aware that the present Government ordered for the bloodbath that led to the killing of more than 1,000 people under the disguise of blocking a road to the former Chief of Army Staff, TY Buratai. By God, this smokescreen is becoming clearer than ever. What they had intended to conceal forever is now in the open, that there was no road blockade at all. Rather, the incident was preplanned, stage-managed and executed to eliminate Sheikh El-Zakzaky and annihilate his large followers.
The Kaduna Judicial Commission of Inquiry (JCI) report found that the “Cordon and Search Operation” conducted by the Nigerian Army culminated in the pogrom “in contravention of the provision of Section 8 of the Armed Forces Act No 24 of 1994”.
Furthermore, the Amnesty International report unearthed the truth; “Unlawful Killings and Mass Cover-Up in Zaria”,
uncovered serious and heinous crimes against humanity by the Army.
Moreover, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman boasted in the early 2018 of Riyadh’s success in suppressing Sheikh El-Zakzaky and the Islamic movement he leads which further exposed Buhari and his masters for the massacre.
Thanks to the interview with the New York Times newspaper and the comments by Dr Zayeed Al-Amri; a member of the Saudi Arabia National Strategic Planning and Development Agency, made with the Hausa Service of the German Radio station, Deutsche Welle further unwrapped some evidence in the carnage perpetration. Saudi Arabia’s sponsorship of the monstrous massacre was enough proof on how the deal turned out to be highly lucrative to the criminals.
The public ought to know that we are not unaware of such patronage from Saudi and other countries. Sheikh El-Zakzaky has been and continued to be a thorn in the flesh of injustice, oppression, tyranny and other forms of criminalities. So, his annihilation they long coveted, even while in incarceration, but it continues to defy them. It
should be noted that should anything happen to him and his wife, Buhari led Government would be held responsible.
Ladies and gentlemen, the unfortunate massacre of brothers and sisters of the Islamic movement whose bodies were buried in mass grave; the subsequent arrest of Sheikh El-Zakzaky and
hundreds of his followers and the destruction of the property that belong to him perpetrated by the Nigerian Army in Zaria, have led to the death of more than 1,000 people, rendered 1,866 children orphaned. Even while calling for his immediate and unconditional release; in Abuja alone, 78 protesters were killed in cold blood.
The health of Shaikh El-Zakzaky and his wife in Kaduna prison is giving us serious cause for concern, as, of recent, Malama Zeenat Ibraheem contracted COVID-19. Their health condition deteriorates on daily basis, as reliable information available to us reveals.
In fact they need urgent medical attention.
That Buhari connived with Kaduna State Government to file a case against Sheikh El-Zakzaky, his wife and 2 others, charging them with murder, is ridiculous and laughable. Isn’t the trial making a mockery of justice? That the murder victim is charged with murder! Even the Buhari administration is mocking itself. Conjure up the transition it adopted, from protective custody to court contempt, and now to the court case involving culpable homicide.
Instead of Buhari to release the Sheikh unconditionally, as ordered by the Federal High Court, and to prosecute the Nigerian Army, as recommended by the report of the JCI constituted by
Kaduna State Government under the chairmanship of Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, he rather chose to prosecute the victims of the Army atrocities. However, we look for justice and prosecution of the culprits.
Ladies and gentlemen, we want to inform you that we cannot afford to sit at home watching Buhari and his sponsors trying to kill Shaikh El-Zakzaky in illegal detention. Therefore we have been staging protests for the unconditional release of our leader. On January 8, 2018 the protest was intensified in Abuja. Protest will continue until Shaikh El-Zakzaky is released unconditionally.
We will also continue to push the case of Zaria massacre at the International Criminal Court of Justice.
Prof. S. A. Maigandi
For the Islamic movement in Nigeria