Islamic Movement decries continued detention of Zakzaky

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The Islamic Movement in Nigeria has decried the continued illegal detention of its leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife despite a valid federal high court order for his release exactly three years ago.
This is contained in a press statement released by the Head of the Media Forum of the Islamic Movement, Ibrahim Musa and made available to the media in Kaduna yesterday.
The statement echoed what the presiding judge uttered while delivering the judgement, that he fears what will follow refusal to obey his court’s order.
“The judge had warned the government in that judgement that holding the Sheikh for so long amounted to great danger, insisting that
“If the applicant dies in custody, which I do not pray for, it could result in many needless deaths.” However, Buhari has stubbornly kept deaf ears to that and contemptuously continued to detain them.
“Instead of releasing them, Buhari opted to file bogus charges against the Sheikh and his wife through Kaduna state government,
“This stunning disregard for the rule of law and human rights does not come to the Islamic Movement as a great surprise because Buhari’s utter disregard for court judgements is legendary, and statistics has it that he has disregarded courts in at least 40 occasions since the inception of his government.
“ In the case of Sheikh Zakzaky, the government has at various times proffered different contradictory reasons for its flagrant contempt of court.
“One of the most absurd of such was the statement attributed to the President himself that national security is over and above the rule of law.
“By this his warped belief, he has stirred the country towards the path of dictatorship, to which all other well-meaning Nigerians must stand and fight against.”