By Amos Tauna
The chairman, Free Zakzaky Campaign Committee, Abdurrahman Abubakar Yola, has expressed dismay with the High Court’s judgment for failing to stand for the truth and justice against tyranny and impunity in the case of N2bn instituted by Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife Malama Zeenat Ibraheem.
Sheikh Zakzaki and his wife had filed a case against Nigerian Government and its security agencies, the Nigerian Army, Chief of Army Staff, and the Kaduna state government, seeking to enforce their fundamental Human Rights to life, peaceful assembly and to own property.
Abdurrahman in a press statement issued Thursday in Kaduna, northern Nigeria said, “Unfortunately, Today, Thursday 06/07/17, The Federal High Court delivered its judgement in the cases instituted by our leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife Malama Zeenat Ibraheem, against the federal government of Nigeria and its security agencies notably the Nigerian Army, Chief of Army Staff, and the Kaduna state government seeking to enforce their fundamental Human Rights to life, peaceful assembly and to own property. Unfortunately, the court shirked in its duties to be on the side of victims of extreme persecution by the government.
“When it mattered most, the court ducked and failed to stand for truth and justice against tyranny and impunity.”
The team of respondents in the case, that include the Attorney General of the Federation, Kaduna state government and the Chief of Army Staff were sued after an attack on the leadership of the Movement by the Nigerian Army in December 2015 that killed over a thousand IMN members, including three biological sons of Sheikh Zakzaki, his elder sister and a nephew.
The statement explained, “The attack was sequel to the unlawful invasion of the privacy of their residence and eventual destruction of the house completely. This has been aptly described by several human rights bodies as a massacre.
“To worsen these flagrant crimes against humanity, bodies of all the hundreds killed were hurriedly and secretly buried in mass graves about 100km away from the scene, apparently in a shoddy attempt at hiding the crime and its magnitude.
“We are all aware of the blurred human rights records of the Nigerian government which hardly respects court orders in contravention of the constitutional provisions anyway.
“The leader and his wife have remained in detention incommunicado in spite of previous favourable court judgement ordering his immediate release from detention, thereby further flaunting his fundamental rights and rights to liberty.
“As a peaceful Movement, we have kept to our clean tradition of seeking redress through peaceful means without any resort to violence despite deliberate and persistent provocations by the government. This judgement will not in any way break our resolve to seek justice in our usual peaceful manner.
“We continue to give praises to the Almighty for further evidence that the Nigerian government is both unable and unwilling to serve justice, not even through the courts. This further proves to the world that the Movement and its leader have been and continued to be only victims of impunity and mischievous plots by the Buhari-led government.
“We wish to use this opportunity to say a big thank you to all people of conscience, human rights activists and organizations, journalists and all those that continue to be on our side in the dogged campaign for justice for the victims of Zaria genocide.”
