We banned IMN, not Shiites – Kaduna govt

The Kaduna State Government yesterday officially released a Gazette on the Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky-led Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), a Shi’ite group it recently declared an unlawful society.

Addressing a news conference in Kaduna, Governor Nasir ElRufai’s spokesman, Samuel Aruwan, said the government only banned the IMN, not Shi’a Muslims in the state, insisting that the group was illegal because it was not registered.

He said government could not ban any religion but had a duty to declare unlawful any group that threatened peace and security.

Aruwan said it was fundamental obligation of the government to preserve security and uphold the rights of all citizens both to practice faith and not be imperilled or be distressed by the way others exercised their faith.

The IMN, he said, was never a registered organization and had refused to conduct itself with adherence to the laws of the state.

The released gazette reads in part: “Kaduna State Gazette No. 21 of 7th October 2016 has declared the IMN an unlawful society. The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the clashes between the group with the appellation Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) and the Nigerian Army in Zaria between Saturday 12th and Monday 14th December 2015, found as facts inter alia that: The Islamic Movement in Nigeria is an unregistered society and recommended that immediate steps be taken by the Kaduna State Government to proscribe it.”

The Gazette said the members of the movement had over the years engaged in acts of aggression and violence against individuals and communities resulting in clashes with security agencies which culminated in the recent deaths of at least 347 persons. “The movement has constituted itself into a parallel government with a uniformed paramilitary wing in complete disregard to the constitution and laws of Nigeria,” the Gazette said, adding, “The movement has overtly continued with unlawful processions, obstruction of public highways, unauthorized occupation of public facilities including schools without regard to the rights of other citizens and public peace and order of the state.”