Nigerians Warn Buhari on 3rd Ann. of Judiciary’s Unfulfilled Verdict on Sheikh Zakzaky

By: Kayhan Int’l 

Yesterday, the 2nd of December marked the 3rd anniversary of the still unfulfilled verdict of the Federal Court of Nigeria, the highest judicial authority of the West African country, on the release from detention of the venerable religious scholar and Leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibrahim az-Zakzaky.
It is an irony that Nigeria which claims to be a democracy has been steadily sliding into a dictatorship under President Muhamadu Buhari, the former general who had seized control of the country through a military coup way back in 1983, and now rules under guise of an elected head of state in his second consecutive 4-year term by virtue of the fraudulent voting that made him retain power earlier this year.
Buhari’s contempt for Nigeria’s constitution and the judiciary is no secret, in view of the fact that over the past five years as Head of the Executive he has violated the Federal Court’s ruling on at least forty occasions, regarding different cases.
A protégé of the Wahhabi cultish regime of Saudi Arabia, he also shares close ties with the illegal Zionist regime, as is evident by the numerous Israeli companies active in Nigeria.
This explains Buhari’s unwarranted animosity towards Sheikh Zakzaky, whose growing number of followers who adhere to the jurisprudential school of the Blessed Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), number over ten million.
It was on December 15, 2015 that the Nigerian armed forces suddenly attacked the peaceful IMN gathering in the city of Zaria on the occasion of the Islamic Unity Week which marks the Prophet’s blessed birthday, killing in cold blood over a thousand men, women, and children, including two of Sheikh Zakzaky’s sons, destroying the Hussainiya Baqiatollah, and kidnapping the injured Sheikh, his wife and scores of followers.
Since the IMN Leader is being held a prisoner, despite the fact that in 2016 on the 2nd of December, within a year of his illegal detention, the Federal Court after reviewing the case and dismissing the allegation levelled by the army, ordered the immediate release of Sheikh Zakzaky and all those detained along with him.
The Sheikh is being denied proper medical treatment and doctors fear he might lose his eyesight as a result of the injuries inflicted upon him.
Last August he was reluctantly allowed to travel for medical treatment to India, but returned within three days from the hospital in New Delhi, where he was virtually being held a prisoner, with specialists unable to examine him because of pressures from the US embassy in the capital.
On his return to Nigeria, the authorities whisked him away to an undisclosed location, and since then there is a deafening silence on his whereabouts, as well as his health.
This has prompted conscientious people in Nigeria, including Christians, Animists, and Sunni Muslims to urge the government to obey the Federal Court’s verdict and release him, but Buhari, who obviously takes orders from Riyadh, Washington, and Tel Aviv, remains unmoved.
Even the earnest diplomatic calls of the Islamic Republic of Iran for Sheikh Zakzaky’s release have remained unanswered, while the Nigerian authorities feel no inhibitions in brutally suppressing the civil rights and liberties of its own Shi’a Muslim citizens, whose peaceful protest rallies have been fired upon and many killed.
In such a situation, yesterday on Monday December 2 on the 3rd anniversary of the Federal Court’s ruling in favour of Sheikh Zakzaky, Head of the IMN Media Forum, Ibrahim Musa, said Buhari was breaking the law by disobeying the highest judicial authority’s verdict.
He warned that the country may slip into anarchy as a result of the President’s contemptuous attitude towards the Apex Court.
Musa’s warning should be seriously taken into consideration by the Nigerian president, or else the venerable Sheikh’s death in illegal custody, might badly boomerang upon him.

Will Nigeria’s Chief Justice Succeed in Securing Sheikh Zakzaky’s Release?

By: Kayhan Int’l 

It is now almost two months since Leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, abruptly returned from a hospital in New Delhi, India, citing the prison-like condition of the ward and suspicions that doctors had foul play on their minds on the orders of the U.S., but there are no news where he has been interned this time by the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari, which continues to disobey the Federal Court’s order on the immediate release of the venerable Sheikh, whose unlawful detention is nearing four years.
Nigeria’s rapidly growing population of ten millions Shi’a Muslims, despite persecution by the pro-Zionist and pro-Wahhabi Buhari, are however, determined that justice should prevail in the country and their leader freed from prison.
Their hopes were raised recently by the statement of the new Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, who said that henceforward the rule of the law should be observed by all, including the government.
Citizens, whether Muslim, Christian or Animist, are interpreting this statement as a wakeup call for the government which has continued its flagrant disobedience of the Supreme Court’s orders.
They say that any act that tramples the citizens’ fundamental rights and is defiance of the Court’s verdict, is a mockery of the Nigerian constitution, including the case of the detainees whose release has been ordered, such as IMN Leader Sheikh Zakzaky, former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore of the ‘Revolution Now’ protest, and ex National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
It is interesting to note that in his recent statement Chief Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed said: "The rule of law must be observed in all our dealings and we must impress it on the government at all levels to actively toe the path. The right of every citizen against any form of oppression and impunity must be jealously guarded and protected with the legal tools at our disposal. All binding court orders must be obeyed. Nobody, irrespective of his or her position, will be allowed to toy with court judgements. As we all know, flagrant disobedience of court orders or non-compliance with judicial orders is a direct invitation to anarchy in the society.”
He added: "Such acts are completely antithetical to the rule of law in a democratic environment, and will not be tolerated under my watch as Chief Justice of Nigeria.”
Brave words indeed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria. He must put into practice the constitutional laws of the country which President Buhari is openly violating by disobeying the Court orders and saying the rule of law must be subjected to the supremacy of his regime’s security interest.
It should be noted that Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, along with his wife, and several followers, continues to be in prison, despite his worsening health conditions, ever since the illegal detention by the army in Zaria on 15th December 2015.
Unable to bring any criminal charges against him, the regime later accused him of incitement to murder, but no trial has ever taken place. Moreover, these charges have been dismissed by the Supreme Court which in 2016 ordered the immediate release of Sheikh Zakzaky, his wife and followers.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole of a Federal High Court in Abuja on 2nd December, 2016, delivered a judgement directing the Sheikh’s release, but the order was never obeyed while the couple’s bail application remained pending before the court, until fresh charges of murder were levelled against them.
In related news, several senior Nigerian lawyers have also demanded that the government ensure strict observance of the rule of law. The lawyers condemned the Buhari administration’s penchant for disobeying court orders, describing it as nothing but an invitation to anarchy.
They have referred to the independence of the Judiciary from the Executive Branch, saying: "When we are talking about the independence of the judiciary, it means the judiciary should assert itself. When court orders are made, they must be obeyed and if they are not obeyed, it portends dangerous precedence.”
In view of these developments in Nigeria, can we expect President Buhari to obey the laws and release the detainees, including Sheikh Zakzaky, instead of clashing with the Chief Justice?
The coming days will provide the answer, whether or not Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed has the resolve and power to force Buhari to obey the laws and release the detainees.
Meanwhile, with the approach of Arba’een, or the traditional 40th day ceremony following the anniversary of the heartrending tragedy of Ashura and the martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS), the Shi’a Muslims of Nigeria remain undaunted, and are determined to observe their religious rite in public for paying tribute to the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), no matter the pro-Zionist and pro-Wahhabi regime of Buhari resorts to more bloodshed of the innocents.