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| Shiite Protest |
The call for the release of the leader of the Shiite group in the country, Mallam Ibrahim Elzakzaky, yesterday gathered more momentum, as hundreds of members of Islamic Movement In Nigeria, demanded the unconditional release of their leader. The leader of the Movement, Mallam Muftau Zakariyah, while addressing a press conference in Ibadan, also demanded compensation for over 2,000 members who were allegedly massacred. He said, “We demand formal apology from the Nigerian Army. We demand payment for all Movement property that has been destroyed”.
While answering questions from journalists, he said “we are innocent of all the allegations by the military. COAS is our servant,he has no right to order the killing of our followers.”
Zakariyah whose speech was punctuated by “Allahu Akbar”, said his followers numbering millions all over the country were not ready for any violence.
He queried why the Nigerian Army “become the prosecutor, the jury and the executioner “adding that the composition of the panel set up was faulty.”
He was of the view that the likes of Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, Prof. Ishaq Akintola of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) and other human rights group should have been included in the panel set up by the Kaduna State government, to attract any credibility.
He lamented that previous governments have been unfair to the Movement for long, alleging “when Jonathan’s government exhausted all options that will postpone election in 2015, it killed three ElZakzaky’s children in order to destabilize the country”.
He said many top politicians in the country had in the past visited and commended Mallam Elzakzaky for his peaceful conduct