Tension Grows As Shiites Demand Release Of Members

The IMN said the federal government has not been able to justify atrocities committed by the army that led to the deaths and arrests of their members.

“We are still adamant in our request that the Sheikh be set free unconditionally, because up to now the government has not been able to justify the unjustifiable atrocities committed by the army that led to his arrest.”

In a statement on Thursday, the movement said it is relieved that Zakzaky is still alive as revealed by members of the contact committee set up by the National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), that visited their leader where he is being held by the federal government.

“According to a member of the committee, Prof. Dahiru Yahya, they met the Sheikh and his wife Sister Zeenah Ibraheem in Abuja, who are all recuperating from the bullet wounds they sustained during the army’s attack.”

The movement in the statement signed by the media president, Ibrahim Musa, said they have been able to establish some figures that indicate how gruesome the avoidable attack by the Nigerian army has been.

“In our list there are about 730 people, men and women, who are still missing, since that fateful Saturday 12th December, 2015. These missing people were either killed by the army or are in detention, but whose where about is still unknown and undisclosed.

“Also there are 220 brothers of the Islamic movement in detention in Kaduna Central prison, some of them with fatal gun wounds and burns.

“At the time of writing this statement, no single corpse has been handed to the families of those killed.”