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Violent Delay Strategy

By Mohammed Ibraheem Zakzaky
On the 21st of June 2018, a judge turned out to be absent at an appointed court date at court 4 in Kaduna. It was rumored that he had been run over by a motorized tricycle. For those like myself who have been eagerly awaiting the date in order to at the very least move towards an eventual end to this infernal nightmare that is currently in its third year, this was a monumental disappointment. 

Instead the court case has been postponed to the 11th of July. This unusual turn of events only adds weight to the suspicious nature of this whole case. As you are aware my father, my mother and two other individuals are being accused of the alleged murder of a corporal that occurred back in December 2015. The day that the Nigerian army murdered hundreds of men, women and children in 2015. These charges are almost the exact same ones that over one hundred people are currently in prison for; were they continue to languish in captivity with no end in sight.
This notwithstanding it is important to note that back in April when the court sat on this particular matter, it had been postponed due to the claim by the prosecution that they were unable to reach the two other defendants, which is in itself an absurd claim. The fact of the matter is that neither one of the two defendants is currently in hiding; their addresses are common knowledge, their locations are no secret. Their willingness to obey a summons if served remains untested. Yet to this day neither one of them has been served a summons as it should be, nor does it seem that there is any intention to serve them at all. It seems that what is actually happening is a deliberate attempt by the government to simply just waste more time. By employing any and all forms of delaying tricks. So as to continue to detain my father and my mother until they die naturally. This is one of the reasons why one would be forgiven to suspect that the honorable judge’s unfortunate encounter with a tricycle is no freak accident.
On the other hand however violence has erupted on the streets of Kaduna. For over two years now, peaceful processions and rallies have been consistently attacked by the police, the army or hired thugs. These attacks have consistently cost the lives of many an innocent man, woman or child. This has happened in the capital Abuja and it has happened in Kaduna among other locations. In the past few days things have taken a turn for the worse. First in an official statement the Kaduna state police command claimed that on the 20th of June 2018; Shiites were going to deliberately disturb the peace in Kaduna, it stated that these Shiites which it described as miscreants were going to be armed with guns, knives, improvised explosive devices and other dangerous weapons. And so like clockwork the peaceful processions which have been going on day after day none stop for the past two months in Kaduna was attacked by armed men brandishing all manners of dangerous weapons. The attack was both violent and indiscriminate as usual.
In fact the only thing that differs this time around is that law enforcement officers were among the casualties. Even now It is unclear to me whether those responsible for this are the Kaduna state police command, the agents of chaos in the employ of this government or the huge army of thugs that El-Rufai has consistently unleashed upon his real and perceived political opponents. Indeed notwithstanding the fact that our homes have been destroyed, our rights trampled and our brothers murdered and denied proper burial, we have remained peaceful at all times, and we will continue to do so. I myself have openly stated that as a law abiding citizen of this country; I will be present at any office, I have sworn to do whatever it takes to secure the health of my father and my mother, in my oath I made clear my commitment to nonviolence; and by God almighty I have been doing nothing but that. I have also sworn to use my constitutional right to vote come 2019 and I am confident that I am not alone in this.
The APC party which we the people did indeed elect into power has within the last three years proved itself to be an enemy of the people. Under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, the gates of hell have been flung wide open upon any and all who will not bend to the nefarious will of his goons. Instead of providing security for all, this government has instead opted to simply employ and change the direction of violence. This destructive force of evil that they now have in their hands, has been directed against all who will not worship at their pleasure. This is most apparent here in Kaduna State, where the minion called Nasiru El-Rufai has proven beyond all doubt that he is an enemy of reason, an enemy of peace, an enemy of law and above all else an enemy of order. The Governor seems to have gone so far as to unleash his army of thugs upon the police. Just so that he can try to convince you that Shiites are violent. Like Chukwuma he seems determined to not only add more mass graves to his name, but like Attila the Hun he aspires to build pyramids of human skulls atop the homes and offices he continues to demolish across the state.
I will reiterate that come 2019, if there is a free and fair election in Nigeria, neither he nor his overlords will score a fair electoral victory. However if by then they manage to fill their quotas of flesh, blood and bones, and they manage to beguile and terrorize enough people to the point where a significant number of people surrender their humanity; then God help the survivors. I offer my condolences to the families of those who have been injured or murdered, including the families of the police officers, whose corpses are now being posted all over online. A uniformed protector of the law who is doing his job according to the rules does not deserve such an end. Nor does a chemical engineer, an aeronautical engineer, an aspiring graphic designer, an aspiring psychologist, a 14 year old school boy or a 12 year old Humaid. I advise my friends in the police to continue in the pursuit of their duties, and rest assured that El-Rufai the traitor, the mass murderer and the butcher will eventually face justice. And so will all murderers and cutthroats.
Mohammed Ibraheem Zakzaky