We’ve right to protest for Zakzaky’s release – Islamic movement

The Islamic Movement in Nigeria yesterday said it has every right under the law to protest for the release of its incarcerated ailing leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky.

“Security agents are spreading false information and rumours with a view to breaking our will and causing confusion so that they could seize the opportunity to turn our peaceful protests into violence,” Ibrahim Musa, president of the movement’s media forum said in a statement.

“Credible reports have confirmed that hoodlums have been commissioned by the authorities to foment trouble by burning tyres and properties in the course of our peaceful processions,” he said.

He said “part of their evil plot involved spreading false news of the alleged death of our leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky due to illness on fake Facebook profile pages. They had hoped to achieve their mischievous aims by using that to wreak havoc and attribute same to a supposed reaction of members of the Islamic movement.”

“When all their evil machinations failed woefully, however, the security agents went wild by themselves and opened fire on peaceful protesters demanding for the immediate release of Sheikh Zakzaky to enable him to attend to his deteriorating health status in illegal detention of Nigerian authorities.

The statement said policemen have so far killed four people during the peaceful protests between Tuesday and Wednesday, arrested a hundred others as well as wounded dozen others that included Sheikh Qasim Umar Sokoto and a journalist.

He said the movement will never be provoked into violence, and “we vehemently reject any attempt to label us violent and we are so orderly for anybody to incite us into taking illogical violent means. We would not be held responsible for anything contrary to our peaceful resolve and methods.”