Scholar: Sheikh Zakzaky to Foil Enemies’ Plot through Self-Sacrifice

Shahriari said that the silence of the international bodies towards the massacre of Nigerian Shias in 2015 proves the double standard policies of these bodies, stressing that the self-sacrifice of the Nigerian Shia Leader Sheik Zakzaky will lead thwart the schemes of the enemies.

“The arrest of Sheikh Zakzaky, the martyrdom of a large number of Nigerian Shias, including the Sheikh’s sons, the Nigerian army’s cruel attack on Shia neighborhoods in Zaria, the martyrdom of senior members of the Islamic Movement, the attack on Shia headquarters in Sokoto and Zaria and the army’s baseless claim that the group was trying to assassinate the army commander are all indications of a conspiracy scenario written by Zionism,” Shahriari said on the ceremony to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Shia martyrs of Zaria which was held virtually. 

“The Zaria massacre is a clear example of the cruelty of the oppressors who do not tolerate the unity of the Islamic Ummah in any way,” he added.

“This deadly silence reflects the multiple standards that dominate international human rights and the right to life of human beings,” the official said, adding, “During the terrorist attacks in Europe, we witnessed the broad sympathy of international organizations and the condemnation of these incidents. But murdering thousands of people in Nigeria are met with indifference and insensitivity of international organizations just for being Muslims and Shias.”

“Undoubtedly, this shameless silence of the international institutions in the face of Zaria massacre will remain in the memory of people,” he said, noting, “The sacrifice of Sheikh Zakzaky will thwart the conspiracy of the enemies.”

In relevant remarks on Saturday, a prominent Nigerian Shiite cleric said that despite the court order, Shiite leader Ibrahim al-Zakzaky is still kept in custody upon an order by the Saudi rulers.

“A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja declared the detention of our leader as alien to any known Nigerian law. Hence, it ordered for his release, which the Federal Government contemptuously refused to obey. Therefore, it is clear to all and sundry that Sheikh Zakzaky is in detention courtesy of the dictatorial tendencies exhibited by the ruling elites in the Buhari regime as instructed by their Saudi Wahabi masters,” a senior cleric of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheik Abdulhamid Bello, said on Saturday.

Bello said that after five years, the movement will not forgive the Nigerian government over the Zaria massacre where many of its members were killed by Nigerian Army in December 2015.

The cleric said the catastrophic genocide against the innocent souls remained fresh in their memories and they would never forgive the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.

“We come out in large numbers today to commemorate five years of this tragic persecution that has not been meted to any community in Nigeria apart from us by the Buhari regime,” he added.

“How can we even forget this catastrophic genocide against innocent souls? Indeed, till the end of time, Zaria massacre will continue to be remembered by generations to come, just like so many unfortunate massacres before it is being remembered; where the perpetrators are being cursed and the wrath of Allah invoked against them,” Bello said.

“During those two days, they wiped out 39 families from existence, mercilessly butchered 193 children, murdered 297 women, 548 men and 23 pregnant women, set ablaze hundreds of vehicles in an utter show of barbarism and senselessness, mercilessly and inhumanely exhumed corpses of martyrs that were buried at Darurrahma burial ground,” the cleric said.

He also accused the military of burying all the corpses of Shiite citizens in mass graves at Mando and other places in Kaduna State without the consent of their families and proper rites as recommended by their religion.

He added that most of them were buried alive with some of them begging for water to survive.

“Five years on after this massacre, the Federal Government has failed in justifying its inglorious action against the Islamic Movement in Nigeria,” the cleric said.

Nigeria’s military carried out the 2015 attack as part of a deadly state-ordered escalation targeting the movement that Abuja has branded as illegal.

During the attack, the 67-year-old was beaten and lost his left eye and his wife sustained serious wounds.

During the crackdown, the military also attacked the movement’s members as they were holding religious processions, with the government alleging that the Muslims had blocked a convoy of the country’s defense minister. The movement has categorically dismissed the allegations, and said the convoy had intentionally crossed paths with the he Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) members to whip up an excuse to attack them.

Among Zakzaky’s surviving children and supporters, concerns are mounting over his health. The 66-year-old cleric has lost vision in one eye and was in danger of “losing the second one,” his lawyer, Femi Falana, told reporters. Zakzaky and his wife still have “pellets of bullets in their bodies,” said Falana, which were sustained during their 2015 arrest.