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  • Kaduna commences “secret trial” of El-Zakzaky, wife

    Kaduna commences “secret trial” of El-Zakzaky, wife

    The trial of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, (IMN) Sheikh Ibrahim El–Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat began on Wednesday at the Kaduna State High Court.
    The Kaduna State Government charged El-Zakzaky and Zeenat with eight counts bordering on alleged culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of the public peace among other charges.

    On Sept. 29, the IMN leader and his wife pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them.

    The State presented two Army officers who testified in secret before Justice Gideon Kurada of the Kaduna High Court.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports since the testimony was given in secret, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, told newsmen that the case was adjourned until Nov. 19, for continuation of hearing.
    “Two witnesses were taken and the trial will continue tomorrow.
    “The officers were put under cross-examination and they gave evidence of the operation that lasted between the 12th and the 14th of December 2015, and the role of the military in the operation,” Falana said.
    Mr Dari Bayero, who led the prosecution, did not speak with newsmen.
    NAN reports that on Sept. 29, the court dismissed a no-case submission filed El-Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat.

    In the motion, the IMN leader had asked the court to dismiss the allegations against him and his wife for lack of evidence.

    But in his ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Kurada, dismissed the no-case submission, saying that it was premature to rule on the application to quash the charges against the defendants in view of the clear provisions of the Kaduna State Administration of Criminal Justice

  • Court fixes Sept. 29 to rule in no-case-submission filed by El-Zakzaky

    Court fixes Sept. 29 to rule in no-case-submission filed by El-Zakzaky

    A High Court in Kaduna, on Friday, fixed Sept. 29, to rule on the motion of no-case-submission filed by Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN).

    The IMN leader is seeking the court to quash the State government’s case against him for lack of evidence.

    Justice Gideon Kurada fixed the date, after counsel to the defendant, Abubakar Marshall, holding the briefs for Femi Falana, had asked the court to quash the charges preferred against El-Zakzaky by the government for not “disclosing an offence known to law contrary to Section 36 (8) and (12) of the 1999 constitution as amended”.

    The Prosecution Counsel, Dari Bayero adopted these final arguments in the matter.

    The IMN leader and his wife Zinat are standing trial on allegations of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of the public peace, among other charges.

    Marshall who spoke to reporters shortly after the adjournment said he prayed the court to dismiss the case for lack of evidence, devoid of any merit and could not stand before any court of law.

    “We prayed the Court to dismiss the charges because they are devoid of any merit and will not stand before any court of law’’, Marshall said.

    He said the third and fourth defendants in the case also charged with committing the offence had been discharged and acquitted by another Kaduna State High Court.

    The team of prosecution Counsel did not speak to the press at the end of the court session.

  • Court orders full medical care for El-Zakzaky, wife

    A High Court in Kaduna, on Monday ordered the Correctional Center, to allow the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and his wife, Zinat full access to medical services before taking their plea on April 23.

    The court presided by Justice Gideon Kurada, gave the order, after the Controller of the Correctional Centre, Kaduna, appeared before the Court at 12:00 noon on Monday as ordered.

    Kurada had earlier, ordered the Controller to appear to explain why he refused to allow physicians to the two defendants access to them in the facility as directed by the court on Feb 6. Justice Kurada, the trial judge, at the resumed hearing of the case on Feb. 6, adjourned the case Feb. 24 and Feb.

    25 for the defendants to appear in court and take their plea. Femi Falana, SAN, had on Feb 6 said the defendants were not in court because “Zinat, the second defendant and wife of El-Zakzaky was ill, therefore my clients were not in court.” The IMN leader and his wife Zinat are standing trial on allegations of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of public peace, among other charges.

    Justice Kurada had granted the defendants’ application to allow them access to their personal physicians to enable them appear in court and take their plea at the next adjournment date of Feb 24 and Feb 25. At the resumed hearing of the case on Monday, Marshall Abubakar, also counsel to the defendants told the court that the physicians were denied access to his clients as the court had directed. Even though Zinat was in court, however, Abubakar requested that the court invite the controller to give reason for disobeying court order.

    The request was granted and the case was stood down to allow the controller to appear before the trial judge at 12:00 noon. Abubakar told newsmen at the resumed hearing at 12:00 on Monday, the controller of the center appeared in court and gave reasons for refusing to allow the physicians access to his clients.

    He said the court had renewed the order to the center to allow the two defendants full access to all necessary services they need for them to be fit to appear and take their plea in the next adjourned date. On his part, the Mr Dari Bayero, lead prosecution in the suit said the court had allowed the two defendants full access to medical services so that there will be no excuses when they come to take their plea on April 23 and April 24. Bayero said the prosecution is ready with its witnesses to prosecute the case in the court on that day.

  • El-Zakzaky fate not hanging on El-Rufai, Shiites fires back at FG

    El-Zakzaky fate not hanging on El-Rufai, Shiites fires back at FG

    Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has faulted the Federal Government’s claim that the fate of its leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, lies in the hands of Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.

    The proscribed IMN, also known as Shi’ites, said the attack, arrest and detention of El-Zakzaky were masterminded by Federal Government agencies in the past four years.

    It insisted that the Federal Government cannot deny its complicity in their laeder’s ordeal.

    In a statement yesterday by its Media Forum President, Ibrahim Musa, IMN said the Federal Government’s ‘complicity’ in the Zaria clash between its members and soldiers in December 2015 led to what it called extra-judicial murder of its members and the arrest and detention of its leader.

    It said: “We wish to categorically repudiate the audacious insinuations by AGF Malami that the fate of El-Zakzaky and his wife lies in the hands of the Kaduna State government and its governor, Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai. We are not deceived by any denial of complicity of the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government.

    “Firstly, the Federal Government’s complicity in the heinous genocide in Zaria of December 2015, that led to the extrajudicial murder of over 1,000 members of IMN and the subsequent arrest and detention of the Sheikh is beyond doubt.

    “This much was accepted and testified to by the General himself (President Buhari) in an interview he granted a Qatari Television Channel while on a visit there as early as March 2016. The Saudi Crown Prince’s self-confessions during a visit to the United States (U.S), that the brutal and inhuman suppression and the continuing illegal detention of Sheikh El-Zakzaky was part of his major foreign policy achievements, further confirms the Federal Government’s involvement, as foreign policy issues are in the exclusive list of the Federal Government.

    “Was that not why the Saudi King was the first to call General Buhari in December 2015, soon after the Zaria genocide, to congratulate him for what he called a victory against terrorism? Was that not also why General Buhari wanted to smuggle Nigeria into a Saudi-led military alliance at the time in the name of fighting terrorism? Was not the then Nigerian Defence Minister, Mansur Dan Ali, accorded honour by the Saudi authorities on behalf of the Federal Government for the role the Nigerian military, an agent of the Federal Government, played?

    “Secondly, the attacks, arrest and subsequent detention of Sheikh El-Zakzaky were by Federal Government agencies. For the past four years, the Department of State Services (DSS) took custody of the Sheikh and his wife from the Army. Nobody is granted access to see him except with the express permission of these federal agents. It even had to take the involvement of the AGF for anyone, even the Kaduna State-established Judicial Commission of Inquiry at the time, to access Sheikh El-Zakzaky.

    “Furthermore, when the Federal High Court declared the detention of the Sheikh and his spouse illegal and unconstitutional and ordered their immediate release from custody forthwith, the order was against the DSS, Nigeria Police Force and the AGF, all representing the Federal Government.

    “The Kaduna State government was never a party in any of these matters. Who is the AGF now fooling that it is purely Kaduna State affair?”

  • El-Rufai to decide El-Zakzaky’s fate – FG

    The release from custody of the leader of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky can only be decided by the Kaduna State government, the Federal Government has said.

    Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami said the Cleric is being tried under the Kaduna State law and not under a federal law.

    He said his case is different from those of Omoyele Sowore and Col.Sambo Dasuki (rtd), who were released from custody on Christmas Eve following his direction to the Directorate of State Services (DSS) to comply with the court’s ruling which granted them bail.

    Malami made the clarifications in a response to an enquiry by The Nation.

    His response was forwarded by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu.

    Followers of El-Zakzaky renewed their demand for the release of the Shiites leader in Nigeria after Dasuki’s and Sowore’s release.

    Malami said: “In determining the authority responsible for compliance with a court order with particular reference to bail, one must be guided by the law under which the accused person is charged and granted bail.

    “On one hand, where the accused is charged under a state law, the order of the court granting bail for an accused person bail is targeted at the state authorities for compliance.

    “On the other hand, where charges are framed under federal offences, the order granting bail is targeted at the federal authorities for compliance.”

    El-Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat were arrested in Kaduna in 2015 after an attack on the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, an act declared by the Army as an assassination attempt.

    The Army raided the IMN headquarters in Zaria and killed many Shi’ites members.

    Despite a court order for their release in December 2016, the IMN leaders is still in detention.

    The Kaduna state government on April 18, 2018 filed an eight-count charge of unlawful gathering, criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide against El-Zakzaky and three others.

    Some of the offences are punishable under section 59 and 190 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017.

    The allegation of homicide is punishable by death, under section 190 of the same law

    In May 2018, El-Zakzaky and Zeenat were arraigned before a Kaduna High Court.

    Justice Darius Khobo on August 5 granted leave to them to travel abroad for medical treatment.

    Although the couple left Nigeria on August 12, Medanta Hospital in New Delhi,, they hurriedly came back on August 16.

    In an audio message, El-Zakzaky accused the government of allegedly frustrating his medical treatment.

    He said: ”So we saw that we were practically brought to another detention facility which is even stricter than the one we were back in Nigeria.

    “They came here with police armed with guns and a lot of staff from the Nigerian embassy”.

  • Iran in talks with Buhari over release of El-Zakzaky, wife – Official

    Iran in talks with Buhari over release of El-Zakzaky, wife – Official

    Iran constantly pursues the case of Nigeria’s top Shia cleric Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky through diplomatic contacts with the Nigerian government in line with efforts to help improve his health, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

    Abbas Mousavi told reporters in Tehran on Sunday that Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Iranian Vice President for Economic Affairs Mohammad Nahavandian recently met in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on a range of issues, including Zakzaky’s case.

    The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 5th Summit of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Equatorial Guinea.

    “We hope that the consultations and arrangements that are being made will expedite the settlement of this issue,” the Iranian official said.

    Sheikh Zakzaky, who is in his mid-sixties, has been under arrest since December 2015, when his home in the town of Zaria was raided by Nigerian forces in a deadly incident during which he was beaten and lost his left eye.

    Three of his sons were killed, his wife sustained serious wounds and more than 300 of his followers died.

    Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) regularly take to the streets of Abuja and several other cities to call for the release of Sheikh Zakzaky.

    Last week Nigerian authorities transferred Zakzaky and his wife to the Correctional Center in Kaduna state, following a high court ruling.

    Earlier on Sunday, Sheikh Zakzaky’s daughter, Suhailah, expressed concerns about her parents’ health conditions and said the Nigerian government had ignored her father’s legal right to treatment.

    At a press conference in Tehran, she added that the same court, which had issued a verdict on the necessity for the urgent treatment of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife, on December 5 ordered their transfer to the Correctional Center in Kaduna. She said she knew nothing about her parents’ situation in the prison.

    Suhailah said her father has suffered several bouts of heart attack due to numerous medical conditions and her mother is not able to walk. Sheikh Zakzaky, his daughter said, also suffers from lead and cadmium poisoning, which forced the Nigerian authorities to allow him to travel to India for an aborted treatment.

  • BREAKING: Court orders DSS to transfer El-Zakzaky, wife to Correctional Centre

    A Kaduna State High Court has ordered that the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife be transferred from the custody of the Department of State Service, DSS, to a Correctional Centre in the state.

    The trial judge, Justice Gideon Kudafa in his ruling on Thursday said the decision was taken to enable their lawyers and doctors to have easy access to them.

    He, therefore, adjourned the case to February the 6th for the commencement of trial.

    The IMN leader is facing trial over allegations of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, and disruption of the public peace, among other charges.

    The trial judge, Justice Gideon Kudafa had on March the 26th adjourned the case indefinitely following his appointment as a member of the Election Petition Tribunal in Yobe State.

    El-Zakzaky and his wife were not in court during the last proceedings, although their counsel, Femi Falana, claimed that their absence was due to their deteriorated health conditions.

    He and his wife (Zeenat) were denied bail by the presiding judge during the last sitting on January 22, 2018.

    In the application for bail filed by El Zakzaky’s lawyer, Femi Falana, on his behalf at the last sitting, the legal practitioner prayed the court to give a mandatory order for his client and his wife to be flown abroad.

    Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, informed the court that this was to enable them to receive proper medical attention since the Federal Government has glaringly failed to cure them of the injuries they sustained during the alleged army’s onslaught on their residence in December 2015.

    The judge in his ruling, however, ordered that El Zakzaky should be allowed by the government to bring doctors of his choice to examine him in the presence of doctors from the government before the date of the next sitting.

    With the absence of the trial judge, Counsel to the IMN leader, Mr. Falana, filed a fresh application at another court of equal jurisdiction on July the 18th asking it to grant his clients leave to seek medical attention abroad and thereafter return for the continuation of their trial.

    Consequently, on August the 5th, the presiding judge, Justice Darius Khobo ordered that the IMN leader and his wife be accompanied abroad by officials of the Kaduna State government.

    The presiding judge ruled that El-Zakzaky and his wife should proceed to India for medical treatment, after which they will return to Nigeria to face their trial.

  • El-Zakzaky: Avert planned nationwide procession by IMN members tomorrow, IGP tells AIGs, Commissioners

    El-Zakzaky: Avert planned nationwide procession by IMN members tomorrow, IGP tells AIGs, Commissioners

    The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu has described the proposed procession by the members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) as an act of terrorism.

    The IGP also noted that the group remains banned adding that any form of procession by it would be treated as a gathering to promote terrorism.

    The Force spokesman, DCP Frank Mba in a statement in Abuja on Monday, also stated that all Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs) and Commissioners of Police across the country have been directed to put measures in place to stop the procession.

    The statement reads: “It has come to the knowledge of the Nigeria Police Force that some members of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) intend to embark on a nationwide procession, ostensibly to cause disruption of public peace, order and security in the Country.

    “The Force notes that in line with the Terrorism (Prevention) Proscription Order Notice 2019 of 26th July, 2019, the activities of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria have been proscribed. Consequently, all gathering or procession by the group remains ultimately illegal and will be treated as a gathering in the advancement of terrorism.

    “To this end, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, has directed the Commissioners of Police in all the States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja as well as their supervisory Assistant Inspectors-General of Police to put in place concrete measures to avert any planned procession and/or disruption of public peace by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, anywhere in the country.”

    The IGP also urged members of the public to avail the Force with useful information as regards the activities of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria.

    The Police boss also advised parents and guardians to prevail on their children and wards not to be persuaded into embarking on illegal and ill-motivated activities by anyone or group of persons, under any guise whatsoever.

    On the claim that 60 of the IMN members were still in police custody, Mba said: “I don’t have information on that but I will check and revert.”

  • El-Zakzaky, wife to travel again for medical treatment as IMN insists on mass procession Tuesday

    Leader of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, may travel abroad soon for medical treatment.

    According to reports, the couples are considering Indonesia or Malaysia as possible countries for the treatment.

    IMN spokesman Ibrahim Musa confirmed the development.

    He said: “I know he said that they are going to look at other countries – Malaysia and Indonesia. I do not know if they have reached an agreement on that.”

    Musa said that Shi’ite members would embark on tomorrow’s Ashura procession in Abuja and other cities, despite Inspector-General (IG) Mohammed Adamu that the group remain banned from doing so.

    The police had said that no group should hold protest or procession on major streets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, except at the Unity Fountain.

    But the IMN vowed that the government cannot stop its annual procession.

    The group maintained that government does not have any constitutional and legal backing to stop any procession by the IMN.

    On Friday, the IMN accused Saudi Arabia of colluding with the Federal Government to stop the Ashura procession.

    Top member of the group insisted that the IMN, under the leadership of Sheikh Zakzaky, “is a mass movement of conscious people who abhor injustice and oppression.

    Musa said: “There is no going back on the plan to hold the much talked about annual procession. The government should not contemplate attacking us. The government wants to act illegally on our matter. So, I think it is wrong to think that we are supposed to withdraw our plan to hold the procession.

    “What right has the government to attack a peaceful procession? Constitutionally and legally government have no right to stop us. We should not be stopped by government from carrying out our religious activities.

    “We are exercising our god-given right to mourn the massacre of Prophet’s grandson and also constitutionally we have the right to the procession on Tuesday (tomorrow).

    “It is the government that should consider our procession right and not we informing or begging government over our right. This is not going to be the first we are doing Ashura procession. We have been doing it for years and it has been peaceful.”

    Musa said that the United Nations (UN) has cautioned the government against clamping down on harmless protesters.

    “I am assuring you that there is going to be Ashura procession in Abuja and major cities in the country. There is no need to inform the police about our procession because it is an annual event. And it is their duty to come and give us protection and not to come and attack us.”

  • El-Zakzaky absent, as court fixes Aug 5 for ruling on bail application

    Justice Darius Khobo of Kaduna State High Court, on Monday, adjourned to August 5, ruling in the application for permission to travel to India for medical attention filed by Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zinat.
    The Islamic cleric was absent in court.
    The Islamic Movement in Nigeria leader and his wife applied for medical bail, citing poor health while in detention.
    Counsel to the respondents, who is also the Kaduna State Director of Public Prosecution, Mr. Dari Bayero, briefed newsmen shortly after the court hearing in Kaduna.
    Bayero said the adjournment was sequel to the argument put forth by counsel to both parties on the application.
    He said that his team had examined the eight medical reports by both Nigerian and foreign doctors that accompanied the IMN leader’s application.
    According to him, they had argued that there are several medical facilities in the country that can handle the medical needs of the IMN leader and his wife.
    Justice Khobo had granted the request of the Kaduna State government to review and respond to El-Zakzaky’s bail application.
    Meanwhile, counsel to the applicants, Femi Falana (SAN), told newsmen after Monday’s adjournment that his clients, El-Zakzaky and wife Zinat, were in dire need of medical attention.
    Falana said that his clients had not been given adequate medical care since their detention on December 14, 2015.
    He expressed concerns over the “continued deteriorating condition” of his client’s health, who he said had already lost an eye and about to also lose the second one if nothing is done.
    According to him, pellets of bullets are still in his clients’ bodies since 2015 and need to be removed.
    Falana explained that the IMN leader was not in court because his health was “very bad,” noting that even during the last appearance, he could not climb the staircase to the courtroom.
    “That is why we applied that he be excused from appearance in court and was granted.
    “The pellets had resulted to lead poison and need to be urgently removed by highly professional medical personnel,” Falana said.
    He expressed the hope that the court would grant El-Zakzaky and his wife permission to travel for urgent medical care.
    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the IMN leader had sought to go to Medanta Hospital, New Delhi, India, for medical attention following his failing health condition.
    El-Zakzaky in the application said he and his wife would return to Nigeria as soon as they are discharged.
    NAN reports that the IMN leader is standing trial over allegations of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of public peace, among other charges in another court headed by Justice Gideon Kurada.
    The case was adjourned indefinitely on April 25 to enable the judge serve on the panel of the National Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal in Yobe.
    Before the indefinite adjournment, the court had, on January 22, ordered the Kaduna State Government to avail the IMN leader and his wife Zinat access to medical care.