Nigerian democracy's last stand: on-going killings & the case of Zakzaky
Written by: Ese
Daily protests are taking place in Nigeria to demand the release of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria’s (IMN) leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife, Mualima Zeenah, who were arrested by the Nigerian security forces in 2015. The couple are expected to appear in court this Thursday.
Over a thousand men, women, and children were killed during the three-day massacre in Zaria, Nigeria from Dec. 12 to Dec. 14, 2015. The Nigerian forces, however, denied the killings for four months, according to Amnesty International’s report on the Zaria Massacre.
“[The Nigerian army’s attack] wasn’t by any means a coincidence or accidental,” said Massoud Shadjareh, Chair of the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), at the Fifth World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES) in Jul. 2018. “It was well organised.”
The IHRC is a UK-based non-profit human rights organization. It was founded in 1997, with one of its first campaigns focusing on Nigeria’s de facto military ruler, Sani Abacha, imprisoning over a thousand members of the Islamic Movement, including Zakzaky, his 6 month old child and the rest of his family. Its successful campaign led to the freedom of the detainees and has been “in support of people in Nigeria,” particularly IMN members, ever since.
On Apr. 11, 2016, the Kaduna State authorities not only admitted to the mass killings, but also to secretly burying the bodies of 347 victims in a mass grave two days after the massacre had occurred. The exact number of those killed are not known. However, reports estimate a much higher death toll than what the military had admitted to.
The Nigerian army also accused Zakzaky’s followers of attempting to assassinate the chief of army staff. IMN denied the allegations and said that they only objected to the soldiers’ presence in fear of another attack at a time when a large number of people had gathered to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad.
Denied medical treatment
Zakzaky and Zeenah remain imprisoned with injuries that have not yet received proper treatment till today. When his house was raided by the security forces in 2015, he was beaten by them till he lost vision in his left eye and obtained several injuries on his body with several fragments from the bullets lodged in it.
In 2016, Nigeria’s Federal High Court ordered his unconditional release by Jan. 16, 2017 and awarded him 25 M naira ($80,000) in damages.
The Nigerian government refused to comply.
In Apr. 2018, Zakzaky was charged with murder, culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, the disruption of public peace, among other accusations. He pleaded not guilty.
For years, Zakzaky was also denied the necessary medical treatment for his injuries. Finally, in Apr. 2019, a team of doctors were allowed to visit the couple and conduct the necessary independent medical examinations. According to the IHRC, The examinations showed “extreme health concerns” including dangerous levels of lead toxicity in his body.
After consistent international pressure, Nigerian courts ordered the couple to be released to travel to India for urgent medical treatment in early August under the supervision of the Nigerian security forces. According to IHRC, three of Zakzaky’s trusted medical team were from India and helped facilitate the visit without interference from the Indian government, at least in the initial stage.
Things got complicated later on.
Instead of observing, they (the Nigerian security) began a regime of harassment and effective detention of the Sheikh and his wife in their hospital room, removing their legal documents from them and with the help, it would appear, of their Indian counterparts, also prevented them at various times from meeting their trusted doctors, denied them access to their Indian lawyers, IHRC or even friends and demanded they control the medical treatment with doctors and even hospitals of their own choosing. - IHRC
Zakzaky decided to return to Nigeria without treatment.
Despite consistently being greeted by tear gas, pellet guns and an increased death toll, IMN members continue to hold regular demonstrations to demand their leader’s release.
History of military attacks
On Jul. 25, 2014 members of the IMN were carrying out their annual Al-Quds Day procession, which is carried out in several cities across the globe to condemn Israel’s human rights violations against Palestinians.
According to a report by the IHRC, Nigerian soldiers “calmly” walked towards the Al-Quds Day protest while shooting at them. “Had the crowd posed any danger to them they would not have taken such a casual approach,” it stated. The “indiscriminate nature” of the shooting also killed those who were not part of the procession.
A 68-year old local Christian man was shot when he sought to find out why soldiers were shooting unarmed civilians and died before he reached the hospital. A Christian woman was also shot and injured when she tried to seek shelter in a store she was working at.
In this 2014 attack, the Nigerian army killed 34 IMN members, including Sheikh Zakzaky’s three children, Ahmad, Hameed and Mahmud Zakzaky.
About the Islamic Movement
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) was founded in the late 1970s, initially as a student movement. Since then, its supporters have grown to approximately 10 to 15 million people across Nigeria.
While this is an “Islamic” movement and follows the teachings of the Shia sect of Islam, it has supporters from the Sunni sect and other faiths as well. The IMN has previously promoted “interfaith harmony” in a message that was read across churches on Christmas Day in Nigeria in hopes to unite members of both faiths in the “fight against tyranny and oppression.”
“We question how anyone, particularly the people of Nigeria, can be expected to have trust in their laws, institutions and processes when their government is allowed to so publicly violate fundamental human rights with impunity,” Shadjareh wrote in a letter to Buhari this year.