The Islamic Movement in Nigeria on Monday said the Major General Muhammadu Buhari
(retd. ) regime , not their leader Ibraheem El -Zakzaky, deserved to face criminal trial.
The group said this in reaction to comments by the Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed that El – Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat were being detained for criminal acts.
In a statement , the President of the Media Forum of the group , popularly known as Shi’ ites , Ibrahim Musa , condemned the government for the extrajudicial killing by security forces.
They cited the alleged killing and mass burial of their members by security forces, alleging that the government suppressed the truth and obstructed justice .
The group accused the minister of talking out of both sides of his mouth, noting that Mohammed had earlier said their leader was being detained for “ his own protection” .
The group said, “ We vehemently and in the most unequivocal terms condemn the recent purported statement attributed to Lai Muhammed that our leader is being held in detention for what he termed crimes and not religion .
“ Indeed , if anyone deserves to be held and tried for crimes , it would be the top officials of the Buhari government who killed over 1 ,000 unarmed citizens and buried them in mass graves , and have used all the might of governance to hide the truth and obstruct the course of justice .
“ The Nigerian government ’s legendary disregard for the rule of law and the persecution of members of the Islamic Movement is well known to the international community.
“ It is the subject of preliminary investigation by the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Furthermore, local and international human rights organisations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Islamic Human Rights Commission have all investigated and documented the atrocities meted out to members of the Islamic Movement and its leadership, purely based on their religious beliefs .”
