El Rufai Labels Shi’ite Sect ‘Insurgent Group’ And Declares War On Its Members

Nasir El Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State, has officially declares the largest Shi’ite sect in Nigeria, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, an “insurgent group”.

The declaration is contained in a white paper released by the Kaduna State government on Monday, December 5, 2016.

“For all intent and purpose, the IMN is an insurgent group and ought to be treated as such,” the government said in the white paper.

The government also said the detained Shiite leader, Ibrahim El Zakzaky, will be held responsible for all acts carried out by the group’s members.

“Members of the IMN owe absolute loyalty to Sheikh Ibrahim El Zakzaky,” the white paper states. “He therefore bears responsibility for all the acts of lawlessness committed by the organisation and should therefore be held responsible, fully investigated and prosecuted.”

In the white paper, the state government also indicated it may not prosecute the soldiers involved in the killing of over 300 members of the IMN in December last year, but may leave their prosecution to the federal government.

Zakzaky has been detained since December 2015 by the secret police, the State Security Services, after being arrested in a midnight raid along with his wife. The Nigerian Army invaded the Muslim cleric’s home after a street confrontation with some youth said to be members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria.

An Abuja court, last week, ordered his immediate release and that of his wife and awarded them N50 million damages for  violation of their human rights. The government has disobeyed the court order and Zakzaky remains in unlawful detention.