Cardinal Onaiyekan has called for the release of the incarcerated leader of Shiite Islamist group, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky who has been detained for almost four years.
He demands that a court ruling issued in 2016 ordering his release be respected.
On Saturday, August 3, 2019, Cardinal Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja, celebrates 50 years of priesthood. On this occasion, he led a press conference on Tuesday, July 30, during which he spoke about the demonstrations by supporters of the religious guide Ibrahim Zakzaky. “Their leader is in detention against court orders, ordering his release,” said Cardinal Onaiyekan. A judicial decision that was communicated to us very brutally and was rejected by the executive. ” 
Ibrahim Zakzaky, the head of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), a Nigerian Shiite Islamist organization, has been in prison since December 2015, following violence between the army and its protesters during a religious procession. The violence killed more than 350 people, according to human rights organizations.
In December 2016, a federal court ordered the release of the religious guide and his wife, but the government did not comply, but instead launched new accusations against the couple, who are now being held for “murder and unlawful assembly”.
“I do not know what would have happened if I had been detained unjustly or for any reason and the court-ordered my release and refused to allow it,” said the archbishop. I do not know if anyone could prevent Catholics from demonstrating. ”
Health
For several weeks, the followers of the religious guide, whose state of health is deteriorating in prison, multiply demonstrations to demand his release. These demonstrations, violently repressed by the police, made, on July 22, at least 6 dead including a journalist, a policeman, and many wounded.
Expected for his trial Monday (July 29th) in the city of Kaduna (North), Ibrahim Zakzaky did not show up for the scheduled hearing because of his condition deemed “very bad” by his lawyer. “At his last hearing, he could not even climb the steps” of the Court, said Me Femi Falana, the lawyer of the religious guide, pointing out that the judge had been informed of his absence and had agreed to a postponement of the trial.
Lawyers for Ibrahim Zakzaky, 66, request that he be released on bail so that he can go for treatment in India. But prosecutor Dari Bayero, who believes that there are “enough medical facilities – in Nigeria – to treat him”, is opposed.
prohibitions
“We are unhappy to know that the trial has been adjourned, given the shaky health of the Sheikh. But we can not do anything about it, we have to wait for the verdict, said Ibrahim Musa, spokesperson for the IMN. The demonstrations will continue because we can not sit back while our leader is dying. ”
After this series of deadly demonstrations, the Nigerian presidency announced Sunday, July 28 in a statement the prohibition of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) for “terrorism and illegal activities”. “The government had to act before the situation was out of control, having warned many times that people should not use religion to break the law,” the presidency said in a statement.
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