FG Spends N3.5m Monthly to Feed El-Zakzaky, Says Lai Mohammed

Be guided by rule of law, UK envoy tells Shiites, security agencies

The federal government has claimed it spends N3.5 million monthly to feed the detained leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim elZakzaky.

This is coming as the outgoing United Kingdom High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, yesterday appealed to protesting members of IMN and security agencies to always allow the rule of law guide their conducts.

Arkwright also denied the involvement of the British Government in the cancellation of the planned address of the British House of Lords by Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd).

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made the claim on the feeding of IMN leader in a video that went viral on the internet yesterday.

The minister, who was apparently addressing journalists, was heard saying in the video that he was giving the journalists the information on an off-the-record basis to serve as a background to their reports.

But Oak Television released it to the internet, trending on social media early yesterday.

Mohammed, in the video, said it was wrong to liken what was happening to el- Zakzaky, whose followers have been engaging security agents in confrontation since his incarceration, to what happened to the late leader of Boko Haram, Yusuf.

He said the IMN leader was undergoing criminal prosecution in Kaduna State and the court had denied him bail.

The minister explained that instead of detaining him in a prison, the federal government decided to hold el- Zakzaky in a building belonging to the Department of State Services (DSS).

He said the Islamic cleric ate whatever he liked in detention.

“It costs the government about N3.5 million every month to feed him,” the minister declared.

Mohammed explained to them that he got the figure from the relevant government agencies upon enquiry.

At that point, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who was apparently briefing journalists alongside Mohammed, jokingly told him (Mohammed) that he (Amaechi) too was willing to be taken into custody.

Justifying why he volunteered the information on an offthe-record basis, the minister described the issue involving the IMN as a “sensitive” one.

“So, please, we don’t want to inflame passion. The issue is a very sensitive matter. But that is the situation,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, the television station has apologised to the minister for making the video public despite the off-the-record agreement he had with the journalists.

In an apology letter addressed to the minister and dated November 8, the management of the TV station said the video was released in error. It claimed that all those involved in the error have been sanctioned.

Meanwhile, the outgoing United Kingdom High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, on has appealed to protesting members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and security agencies to always allow the rule of law guide their conducts.

Arkwright, who made the appeal yesterday during a parley with journalists in Abuja on the visit of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, also appealed to Nigerians to tackle the herders famers clashes from a more global perspectives rather than ethnic and religious lines, adding that there are bigger issues underlying the crisis.