The first day of the month of Rabi’ul Awwal, 1442
marks the fifth anniversary of the Zaria Massacre. It was on a similar day in
1437, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria
and thousands of his followers faced the most brutal crackdown ever,
spearheaded by the Nigerian Army, at the behest of the Buhari-led Nigerian
regime and its foreign backers. In those forty-eight hours of that eventful
weekend, over a thousand unarmed Nigerian citizens were extra judicially gunned
down in cold blood and many hundred others were arrested.
It was in those two cruel days that many infants and
babies that knew nothing about the crimes their parents were allegedly accused
of were mercilessly killed. It was during that black period too that even the
elderly were not spared. The seventy-year-old elder sister of Sheikh Zakzaky was
gruesomely thrown in a raging blaze while still alive, as she cried for water
to quench her thirst. It was during that period that many families were
completely wiped out of existence. It was during that period that not less than
193 children were butchered without any pity. Over 297 women, 548 men and 23
pregnant women were all killed within those two eventful days in Rabi’ul Awwal,
1437. Valuable properties worth millions of Naira were torched and vandalized.
Within those terrifying days, graves of martyrs,
earlier killed by the same Nigerian Army extra judicially, were desecrated and
bodies were exhumed. In those same petrifying days, they secretly buried their
victims in mass graves at a location several kilometres away from the crime
scene. It was during those days that worship and educational centres, graveyard
and the residence of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky were razed and completely
demolished.
In the meantime, five years on, the government has
never been able to prove any of their allegations against Sheikh Zakzaky or any
of his supporters in any court of law. The Sheikh has remained unlawfully
detained in spite of a judgment by an Abuja Federal High Court that his
continued detention is a breach of the constitution and his fundamental rights,
and indeed all known laws. For most of his years in detention since then,
Sheikh Zakzaky has been held virtually incommunicado with only limited access
to his legal representation. He was apparently poisoned in detention and is
being denied medical treatment, putting his life at very great risk.
This oppressive Buhari regime has also since gone
ahead to escalate their tyranny against members of the Islamic Movement,
further killing many hundreds and arresting and detaining equally many hundreds
more. The rights of Sheikh Zakzaky and his supporters are continually being
violated with impunity. We, therefore, call on the International community,
especially the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague and the UN to
expedite action to hold the Nigerian government accountable for its crimes, and
help uphold the inviolable human rights of the people of Nigeria.
Finally, as we mark the fifth anniversary of this
Zaria Genocide Memorial, we unequivocally reiterate that enough of this
systematic oppression of Sheikh Zakzaky and members of the Islamic Movement. We
call for the immediate and unconditional release of the Sheikh from this
unjustifiable detention, along with all those still in detention on this
account. We also demand the immediate arrest and prosecution of all the
culprits involved in the Zaria genocide of Rabi’ul Awwal 1437 and its
aftermath.
SHEIKH ABDULHAMID BELLO ZARIA
01 RABI’UL AWWAL 1442
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