The state government in a White Paper released on Monday in Kaduna said: “For all intent and purpose, the IMN is an insurgent group and ought to be treated as such.”
Leader of the IMN, Shiek Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, who has been in detention since December 2015, the white paper said will be held responsible for all acts carried out by the group’s members.
It said all members of the IMN owes loyalty to El-Zakzaky, “He therefore bears responsibility for all the acts of lawlessness committed by the organisation and should therefore be held responsible, fully investigated and prosecuted.”
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In December 2015, soldiers and the sect had a standoff at the Zaria-Kaduna road which led to soldiers later raiding the commune of the Shi’ites killing over 300 of them.
Amnesty International had called for the prosecution of the soldiers involved but it seems the state government is unwilling to do so.
Only last week, Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court Abuja ordered the federal government to release El-Zakzaky and his wife while awarding damages to them to the tune of N50million.