Shiites accuse Buhari of complicity in leader’s detention

Members of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (MNI), otherwise known as Shiites, have accused President Buhari of complicity in the detention of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, as they alleged that the President has vowed to uproot the propagation of Shiitism in Nigeria.

They pointed to the interview granted by the President in Qatar, while faulting the recent statement made by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed that the Islamic Movement is a security risk to the country.

In a statement by the spokesman of the IMN, Mallam Ibrahim Musa yesterday, the group challenged the Minister to come out and tell the world when they became a security risk.

“The President’s complicity is not in doubt. Buhari kept a sealed mouth initially even when armed soldiers of whom he is the ultimate commander in chief killed over a thousand unarmed citizens and secretly dumped in mass graves within a few hours”.

“If the minister is convinced that their government has justification for brandishing this new position, why won’t the government charge him to court to prove why they must continue to hold him? Everyone is presumed innocent until proven otherwise and the government cannot live above the laws of the land and capriciously detain innocent citizens without recourse to the laws of the land.

“This same minister had shamelessly said the courts do not have the full picture in yet another previous interview when asked why their government was disobeying court judgments. We challenge the Minister to go and give the courts the full picture and let the courts scrutinise his allusions. Indeed, security concern has become the currency of the moment”.

“We would like to reiterate our two year stance, namely the immediate release of our leader Sheikh Zakzaky and all other members of IMN being detained across the country. It is our right to demand for our religious freedom and other fundamental human rights and we will not shy away from doing just that in a peaceful manner legally,” he said.