El Zakzaky: Be the judge

 By Omogbolahan Babs  

"A leader must be a TERROR to the few who are the EVIL in order to protect the lives and well-being of the many who are good." - Rodrigo Duterte

Many of the commentaries that have run across the cyberspace on the purported incarceration of Ibrahim El-Zakzaky have been, largely, out of emotions. The preponderance of calls as a corollary of inadequate knowledge from e'en those who should know, asking the federal government to release the arrow head of agent provocateurs known as the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, otherwise referred to as Shi'ites is a pointer to the fact that the vast majority of Nigerians are either hypocrites or understandably ignorant of sequence of events.

This piece is not about the propriety or otherwise of the ideology of the group. It is not to right or wrong their practice of Islam, but an attempt to give a synopsis of the activities of the group, their operations and relationship with the larger society. El-Zakzaky's current incarceration is not the first, neither is it the second. El-Zakzaky was sometime in September 1996 arrested by the military junta of late Sani Abacha. He was in detention for about three years, precisely 27 months. As a matter of fact, those who have followed the chronicle of events will agree here that it is about his third or fourth time.

In July 2014, on a Saturday, 25, the military under the then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Goodluck Jonathan, 34 members of the El-Zakzaky group were massacred. These included four (but one) of his sons. Ahmad, Mahmoud and Hamid were murdered while the fourth boy, Ali was shot. The military action snowballed into the second day, July 26. Three truck-load of soldiers bombarded his stronghold with many casualties including innocent citizens who were passers-by. While this lasted, commendations came from the south, for the GEJ-led administration. El-Zakzaky was then seen as a threat to continued unity of Nigeria.

The question is why is El-Zakzaky's IMN always in confrontation with almost every administration? We must put things in proper perspective so that those who are today's emergency activities on the social media and their lawyers and jurists will have a good understanding of the whole scenario. Ibrahim El-Zakzaky's Shi'ites credo DOES NOT believe in the sovereignty of Nigeria. As a matter of fact, the group's allegiance is to the government of Iran. That was the more reason some Iranians went to the Nigerian Embassy in the United Kingdom on Monday, July 22 to demand his release. The Shi'ite group runs a republic within a Republic.

Sources have it that in his Zaria domain in Kaduna State, he is seen more of a terror, intimidating every citizen. You dared not use his frontage as thoroughfare, regardless of whoever you were. There was a report of a particular scenario where a sitting governor, Ramalan Yero, Patrick Yakowa's deputy before he was sworn in as the substantive governor following the demise of the latter. Reports had it that El-Zakzaky forced the governor to disembark from his convoy and walk through his frontage before he could pass. A sitting governor. He is said to be a government on his own, with his ministers, local government councilors and all what not. It was reported he had his own security paraphernalia similar to any government.

Let us quickly state that as at today, there is NO subsisting judgement that orders his release by the federal government. The judgement everyone is latching on, including legal 'luminaries' dated back to 2016. This already had been overtaken by the 'culpable homicide' allegation leveled against El-Zakzaky by the Kaduna State government in 2018. So, as it is, President Muhammadu Buhari is not the one detaining him, but the Kaduna High Court which has continued to adjourn his trial. It is funny how so-called speak out of ignorance. Many of them have not followed events but will occupy the cyberspace and constitute themselves as authorities.

I have had personal encounter with the Shi'ites and I can tell anyone who cares to listen that the group is violent. Anyone may say protest is recognized by our sacrosanct constitution. It is a statement of fact. But such protest must be entirely peaceful. Now, I challenge anyone to tell me what is peaceful in Shi'ites protests where lethal weapons are used. The group (Shi'ites) that attacked military formation along Zuba, Abuja recently were armed with various charms and light weapons. I am yet to see the brand of Islam that preaches that when you go on 'peaceful protest', you must arm yourselves. I need any member of the group to show the world a portion of the Qur'an that orders such.

You go on a 'peaceful protest', but go on to attack innocent citizens by burning their cars and valuables. Are the people you assaulted in custody of your Oga? What brand of Islam preaches such nihilistic tendencies? It is flabbergasting nonetheless that the South which saw the attack on El-Zakzaky in 2014 under Goodluck Jonathan administration as a very welcome move now sees same situation as an abuse of human rights under Muhammadu Buhari. Our hypocrisy is legendary! I watched the immediate past Director-General of the DSS, Denis Amachree talk on TVC #THISMORNING show where he said El-Zakzaky opted to stay with the DSS.

For me, what the group is doing in Abuja is to test the waters. How they are able to have coordinated procession with members numbering over 3,000 within the Federal Capital Territory with the police not having any intelligence report leaves much to desire. Their members cut across. They have members e'en among the military paraphernalia - police, army, navy, Air Force including the paramilitary as much as they have in various government employment. Same government they describe as heretic. For those of you who think the interest of an individual or a group which thinks Nigeria, a secular state should be run on Islamic tenets of their own brand deserves to be allowed to continue to be a menace to the entire society, may have to live regrettably with such horror.

Finally, the federal government must be circumspect in dealing with the situation. The involvement of foreign interest cannot be ruled out. The Independent People of Biafra, IPOB, I think was not as violent as this before it was proscribed. The only difference in the two groups is, the IPOB came out to demand for secession unlike the Shi'ite which does that surreptitiously by running a government within a government. Abuja residents, particularly those who live in the city centre now live with palpable fears. Whatever it takes to secure lives and properties must be deployed. However, let government not be intimidated or bamboozled into embolden the group because other rabble rousing dissident groups will have such clout as to dare government regardless.


Omogbolahan Babs, a Forensic and Criminal Investiation expert writes from Abuja