Bothered about his state of health three weeks after his arrest and subsequent detention by the Army and then by the police, members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria sect, popularly called the Shi’ites on Monday asked the Federal Government to tell Nigerians the whereabouts of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife.
The Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase had said Shiek El-Zakzaky is currently in police custody, being guarded as he received treatment at an undisclosed medical facility after the December 12 and 13 clash between members of the sect with the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai in Zaria left an unknown number of sect members, including the sect’s second-in-command Muhammad Turi dead.
Arase told members of the seven-man fact-finding special committee of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) led by Daud Naibi in his office in Abuja on December 21 that El-Zakzaky was currently in police custody.
However, in a statement by the President of the Islamic Movement Media Forum (IMMF) Ibrahim Musa, the sect members said they are anxious to know the whereabouts of their leader.
Musa said: “The condition and whereabouts of the Islamic Movement’s leader Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky as well as that of his wife, are still unknown, three weeks after their arrest and detention by security operatives.
“The Islamic Movement as well as the general public are now seriously anxious.
“Where is Sheikh Zakzaky and why has he been denied his constitutional right to his attorney, bail and visitation?
“If the government is truly interested in finding a peaceful way out of this crisis the army initiated and executed, as the government wants the public to believe, it should by now have allowed unimpeded access to Sheikh Zakzaky.
“First and foremost, his first family members and leading brothers of the Islamic Movement and his doctor should have met him by now, since he was shot by the soldiers when they attacked his residence.”
Musa added: “We are highly agitated by this seeming needless incommunicado the Sheikh has been placed in.
“The Federal Government should tell the public where Sheikh Zakzaky is, because rumours of various degrees are flying about his health.
“We believe it is only when the Sheikh’s health condition is made public by the relevant authorities that the tension brewing among the populace will be doused.”
-Vanguard
