Pardon detained Shiite members, Arewa youths

Arewa Youth Leaders’ Forum has appealed to military authorities to pardon and release detained members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) also known as Shiites.

The Forum apologised to the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, over the incident of December 2015 when members of the sect obstructed his convoy in Zaria, Kaduna State.

The decision to appeal on behalf of the detained sect members was reached at a dialogue held in Abuja at the weekend.

Isah Ocheja and Jonah Ali, President and General Secretary respectively in a joint statement issued on the outcome of the meeting said: “We resolved at our roundtable in Abuja on Saturday, March 5, 2016 to apologise to the Chief of Army Staff and the Nigerian government and beg for pardon for detained members of the sect to be released, with a promise not to engage in further acts of terrorism.”

The statement disclosed that the group plans to reach out to the National Assembly, while traditional rulers would be consulted on why no individual or group of persons should allow their children to be indoctrinated and radicalised to commit any act of terrorism again.

It, however, kicked against comments by the Iranian authority, demanding that the country’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Saeed Koozechi, must stop making utterances that called the people of northern Nigeria terrorists and promoters of extreme sectarian views.