Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) which is also known as Shi’ites have demanded for immediate release of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat who are at present in Kaduna Correctional Centre.
While demanding for El-Zakzaky’s release, the IMN said the COVID-19 disease pandemic plaguing the world has necessitated their release.
Since the detention of El-Zakzaky and his wife in 2015, court orders have granted them bail several times.
Another reason stated by IMN is that the Kaduna Correctional Centre where the couple are being detained witnessed a recent attempted jailbreak by inmates who protested overcrowding and inadequate ventilation, as such, the couple may become victims of COVID-19.
The IMN in a statement by the President of its Media Arm, Ibrahim Musa, in Kaduna yesterday said: “Since the outbreak of this coronavirus pandemic, many countries all over the world have been releasing prison inmates in their thousands ostensibly to decongest them, but also as a way of releasing the innocent ones among them who were unjustly detained. By so doing, the nation receives succour from the creator of the world because of the magnanimity.
“It is in this same vein that Nigerian government is expected to release the foremost prisoner of faith in the country and the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, who has been in detention for almost five years with ailments he sustained in the course of his arrest and detention.”
