A Kaduna High Court has
discharged and acquitted about 100 members of Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN,
otherwise called Shiites, according to a statement signed by the President of
the movement’s media forum, Ibrahim Musa, and distributed to newsmen in Kaduna
on Tuesday.
While discharging and acquitting
the IMN members, the court was quoted as saying, “This judgement has not only
vindicated the members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, but it is certainly
a victory for perseverance in the face of extreme persecution. It is a victory
for truth and justice against tyranny and impunity.”
The Islamic movement recalled
that “the Kaduna state government sued almost close to 200 members of the
Islamic Movement after an attack on the Movement by the Nigerian Army in
December 2015 which led to the killing of over a thousand souls, including
three sons of the Sheikh Zakzaky, his elder sister and a nephew.
“The attack was sequel to the
unlawful invasion of the privacy of their residence and eventual destruction of
the house completely. This has been aptly described by several human rights
bodies as a massacre.
“To worsen these flagrant crimes
against humanity, bodies of all the hundreds killed were hurriedly and secretly
buried in mass graves about 100km away from the scene, apparently in a shoddy
attempt at hiding the crime and its magnitude.”
The Shiites reiterated their call
for the release of Sheikh Zakzaky, adding that, “We are all aware of the crude
tactics of the Kaduna state government led by El-Rufai all in his devilish
plots at perpetuating the persecution against the Islamic Movement and the
continued detention incommunicado of Sheikh Zakzaky and his ailing wife.
“In spite of previous court
judgements ordering their immediate release from detention, thereby further
flaunting his fundamental rights and rights to liberty. With this victory in
the court today, the false charges filed against them of aiding and abetting
the culpable homicide has been punctured for good.
“We await the response of the
Kaduna state government as Sheikh Zakzaky’s case comes up in the next two days.
We expect them to respect the judgement of this honourable court and the course
of justice to withdraw the fake charges against him and release him with
immediate effect.
“As a peaceful Movement, we have
kept to our clean tradition of seeking redress through peaceful means without
any resort to violence despite deliberate and persistent provocations by the
government.
“Today, Kaduna state government
has again failed in court after a fair trial. We therefore give praises to the
Almighty for yet another successful outing, which further proves to the world
that the Movement and its leader are only victims of impunity and mischievous
plots by the El-Rufai-led government,” read part of the statement.
The IMN however expressed
gratitude to those who stood by it throughout the trial, saying, “We wish to
use this opportunity to also say a big thank you to all people of conscience,
human rights activists and organizations, journalists and all those that joined
in our dogged campaign for justice for the victims of Zaria genocide. Thank you
and God bless.”
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