Charge El-Zakzaky to Court
The fall-out from last December’s very bloody clash in Zaria between the Nigeria Army and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), better known as Shi’ites, spilled over into the streets of Abuja last Thursday when the group’s members staged a demonstration. They marched along major streets to demand for “the immediate and unconditional release” of their leader, Sheik Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, who has been detained without charge since December. IMN variously said el-Zakzaky is in poor health, is going blind and might die in detention.
The Shi’ites’ demonstration led to some altercation with policemen. Feder¬al Capital Territory (FCT) Commissioner of Police Muhammad Mustafa warned the group to desist from further actions which he said threaten the peace of Abuja residents. He said the command “is well prepared and possesses the wherewithal to confront any threat to the existence of serene, peaceful FCT.” CP Mustafa said the Shi’ites did not obtain police permission before embarking on the protest so it was “illegal and with satanic intention.”
A day before these events, the report of the National Human Rights Commission’s Special Investigation Panel called for the speedy trial of IMN members who blocked the path of Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai’s convoy in Zaria on December 12, last year. The panel, headed by Mr Okechukwu Ojukwu described that episode as the remote cause of the subsequent clash that led to the death of hundreds of IMN members. For good measure, the panel said, “Any officers of Nigerian Army found culpable for disproportionate and unreasonable use of force in violation of the Rules of Engagement and Code of Conduct of NA and the 1999 CFRN [Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria] during the incident of December12-14, 2015, should be prosecuted.” It called on the Kaduna State Government to pay “compensation computed in a fair manner by experts” to victims of demolished property in Zaria. While the Army demolished some major Shi’ite facilities during the clash, Kaduna State Government demolished some more afterwards.
In another indictment of the Shi’ites, the panel report “called for sensitisation of religious groups on the need to respect the right to freedom of movement of others, especially on public highways.” It was the Shi’ites’ blocking the path for General Buratai, who was on his way to attend the passing-out parade of the 73 Regular Recruits Intake of Depot, Nigeria Army, Zaria that led to the bloody clashes. Crucially, the panel report said, “The leader of IMN should be tried speedily for any offences (if any) established against him and his organization in line with the 1999 CRRN as amended.” This is not the final report of the National Human Rights Commission on this matter. Its executive secretary Prof Ben Angwe said while receiving the report that the commission will study it and come up with its final report.
Still, it is a very important statement coming from NHRC’s investigation panel because Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky has been detained since the December clashes, apparently by the Department of State Services [DSS], and has not been charged to court for any offence for more than nine months. This very clearly violates the constitutional stipulation that a person should not be detained for more than 48 hours before he or she is charged to court. Of course the court can then remand the person in prison, police, DSS or other custody if it deems fit or release him or her on bail.
Reasons given by the government for this strange deed have been unconvincing and contradictory. The DSS earlier said he was under “protective custody, with his consent.” This was doubtful and impossible to verify independently because El-Zakzaky’s lawyers had no access to him. IMN cited this as their reason for boycotting sittings of the judicial commission of inquiry set up by Kaduna State Government to probe the clashes. And then on Sunday last week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama was reported to have told newsmen in New York that President Buhari’s administration is detaining el-Zakzaky because it is still studying the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by Kaduna State Government.
The Shi’ites’ efficient propaganda machine lurched on these contradictions and absurdities. Its spokesman said, “We believe his illegal detention has nothing to do with the Judicial Commission of Inquiry (JCI). He is not being detained by the JCI nor is he detained on its recommendation. In fact the JCI had to extend its period of sitting to seek ways for the Sheikh Zakzaky’s legal team to meet with him in detention. JCI was even inaugurated while the Sheikh was already in detention. More so, the issue of his detention was not discussed by the JCI during its sessions nor did it bother to make any issue of it. Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky is being detained by the presidency under the Department of State Service (DSS) and not by the JCI.”
For now reason, logic, the law, the constitution, conscience and propriety are all on the side of the Shi’ites’ argument for their leader to at least be charged to court for any alleged crimes. This is so even though the Shi’ites are believed by most Nigerians, including their neighbours in Zaria, the police, the Army and the government to be essentially lawless, who do not respect the rights of others and who do not recognise the Constitution of the Federal Republic or the sovereignty of the Nigerian state except where it serves their purposes. That said, the government cannot and should not descend to the same level of trampling the constitution and citizens’ rights with impunity. Sheikh Ibraheem el-Zakzaky should be immediately charged to court for whatever crimes he is believed to have committed.