The matter of Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) otherwise known as Shi’ites looks like the corpse cited in a Yoruba proverb, that has been buried in the grave, but its legs are still exposed. The Shi’ites issue is far from settled. Last Tuesday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu said in reaction to questions on human rights records of the Buhari administration that El-Zakzaky who had been in detention since December 13, 2015 was being held in protective custody and of his own volition.
And only last Monday, police sprayed hot water and fired tear gas sporadically to disperse protesting members of the IMN at the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, office in Abuja.
The supporters of El-Zakzaky, mainly undergraduates from different institutions across the country, had assembled at the NHRC office to urge the commission to facilitate the release of their leader, his wife and other detained members of the group.
Similarly, in April,  Shiites  staged a nationwide protest to mark 500 days of their leader’s detention by the Department of State Services (DSS).
El-Zakzaky, his wife and others were arrested following a clash between members of his sect and the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna State.
I had written in this column shortly after the incident and a recall won’t be out of place. Members of the Shi’ite sect  had blocked Sokoto Road in Zaria through which the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai was to pass to attend an event in the city on December 12, 2015. Armed personnel were deployed to clear the road after pleas to the youths who carried sticks, stones and machetes fell on deaf ears.
Then the Army launched an attack on the Hussainiyya Baqiyyatillah compound occupied by the Shi’ites the next day, killing 347 members of the group, including children of the leader. A soldier also died during the operation. A commission of inquiry set up by the Kaduna State Government on the incident indicted the Army for using disproportionate force against the Shi’ites. The GOC and other officers involved in the massacre were recommended for trial in a court of competent jurisdiction for acting against the Armed Forces Act 1994 and the 1999 Constitution.
El-Zakzaky was also not spared. The panel ruled that he should take personal responsibility for all acts committed by his followers during the clashes with the Army, for failing to call them to order.  My position remains that both sides acted against the law, but the scale of blame in my opinion tilts more against the government, which up till now is still acting in breach of the law and  believing that the incident would just die down.
Contrary to the claim by the president’s aide that El-Zakzaky elected to be in protective custody, the IMN leader had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to enforce his fundamental human rights. Justice Gabriel Kolawole had in December last year ordered the DSS to release El-Zakzaky within 45 days. The judge also ordered the Federal Government to provide accommodation for the Shi’ite leader, his wife and family  because their house had been demolished by government. Justice Kolawole declared that continuous detention of the Shiite leader in protective custody was unknown to law and the National Security Act establishing the DSS.
The situation would not have degenerated to this level if the Army had handled the Shi’ites misconduct and disrespect for law and order with restraint. The Buhari government is behaving as if it is right to break the law to correct a wrong. This attitude has no place in a democracy.
El-Zakzaky must be released. His family and families of victims of the Army’s senseless killings must be compensated. And the government should now do what it ought to have done in the first instance: Devise ways to ensure that religious groups such as the Shi’ites are taught to learn to respect constituted authorities, know their bounds and if they act beyond limits, be tried in the law courts.
The injustice done to the Shi’ite leader and his sect must not linger any longer, the same way as Boko Haram’s for which the nation is still paying a heavy price. I don’t want to believe that the Buhari government would keep the IMN leader in detention till 2019 or 2023 and hand over the burden to the next administration.

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