By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS, (AA) – Nigeria’s Kaduna state has outlawed the Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) Friday, in a step the government said was necessary to keep public peace.
Samuel Aruwan, spokesman to governor Nasir el-Rufai of the northwestern state, said in a statement Friday night that the group was declared “an unlawful society”.
The order followed the government’s reception of a report conducted by a panel that investigated last December’s violent encounter between the army and members of the country’s main Shia group, in which over 300 people were killed.
Group leader Ibrahim el-Zakzaky and his wife have been detained since the incident.
Accusing the Shia of unlawful conduct and running a private militia, Aruwan said the order meant that anyone who managed or claimed membership to the organization risked prosecution.
“The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Zaria Clashes of 12-14 December 2015 found that the IMN is not a registered organisation, that it has a paramilitary wing and that its members do not recognise or respect the laws of the country and the duly constituted authorities that have the responsibility to secure and administer the country,” Samuel Aruwan, a spokesperson to Governor Nasir El-Rufai, reportedly said in a statement.
“We totally reject the proscription as it was made in bad fate. And we are going to challenge it by all means lawful,” said Ibrahim Musa, spokesman of the movement, in a telephone interview on Friday.
Earlier the Federal High Court 6 sitting in Abuja and presided by Justice Gabriel Kolawole has advised that the fundamental Human Rights case brought by the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, is better settled amiably out of court. He made the advice after taking oral presentations from counsels to the parties to the case.
Sheikh Zakzaky, had instituted the case against the Department of State Security (DSS), Attoney-General of the Federation (AGF), Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) challenging his detention for the past nine months without charges. In his submission, Counsel to the Sheikh, Mr. Femi Falana SAN, prayed that the court should declare the continued detention of his client as illegal, unconstitutional and severely tramples on his fundamental human rights as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended and the provisions of the African charter on human rights. He also wants the court to order for his client’s immediate release and be paid N2b damage.
Additional reporting by The Muslim News
[Photo: Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky. Photograper: Tajo Malli/Creative Commons]