Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State has ordered the arrest and prosecution of Ibrahim Musa, spokesman of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, the largest Shi’ite sect in Nigeria.
“A few hours after the commencement of the Order, [banning the Islamic Movement in Nigeria] the said Ibrahim Musa admitted to membership of an unlawful society and identified himself as its spokesman in widely publicized statements. This is deemed as a deliberate and determined affront to the order, and the law has to take its course,” Samuel Aruwan, a spokesperson for Governor El Rufai said in an e-mailed statement to The Trent on Sunday, October 9, 2016.
“The commissioner of police has been directed to ensure the arrest to enable prompt prosecution by the Kaduna State attorney general and commissioner of justice.
“All security agencies in the state have been directed to vigorously enforce the law, and demonstrate clear resolve by arresting the said Ibrahim Musa, who is further advised to report himself to the nearest police station or any of the security agencies.
“Government cannot allow the laws of the state to be wantonly tested and confronted by anyone or group who might have the mistaken belief that they are above the law.
“The same Constitution imposes an obligation on government to secure the state and protect every citizen against infringement of their rights by others.
“Drawing on powers vested by Section 45(1) of the Constitution, and Section 97a of the Penal Code, the governor signed an order declaring the IMN as an unlawful society in the interest of public order and to protect the rights and freedoms of all persons in Kaduna State,” the statement said.
Ibrahim Zakzaky, leader of the Shi’ia sect, has been in illegally detained by the country’s secret police, the Department of State Security Services, DSS. He was abducted from his home in Zaria in a three-day military genocide in which almost a thousand people were killed, against the minority religious group in December 2015.
Zakzaky has been declared a prisoner-of-conscience by, Intersociety, a leading human rights group in Nigeria.
