By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

The Leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), after five years of illegal imprisonment and torture, has had the opportunity to commemorate the 6th anniversary of the brutal massacre in the city of Zaria by the regime’s forces.
In mid-December 2015 a peaceful gathering of Nigerian Muslims celebrating the auspicious birthday of the Prophet of Islam at Husseiniyah Baqiatollah, was suddenly attacked by the Nigerian military forces, resulting in the martyrdom of over a thousand men, women, and children, including the sons of the venerable religious scholar, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, who along with his wife Maalama Zeenah, was injured and dragged into detention.
Soon facts emerged and it was discovered that the massacre and the arrest of the IMN Leader was on the personal instructions of the Nigerian president, who was acting as per orders given to him by the Wahhabi regime of Saudi Arabia and the illegal Zionist entity.
Both Riyadh and Tel Aviv are notorious for their intense hatred of Shi’a Muslims – as followers of the School of Jurisprudence of Prophet Muhammad’s (SAWA) Ahl al-Bayt (Blessed Household) are known. It was anathema to them that Sheikh Zakzaky had so far enlightened over ten million Nigerians through his rational preaching and their numbers were growing.
For over five years, Mohamedu Buhari, a former military general who before manipulating voters to win the current presidency had in the 1980s seized power briefly through a military coup, subjected Sheikh Zakzaky to inhuman measures by denying him medical treatment and opposing the verdict of the Federal Court of Nigeria for immediate release of the IMN Leader in 2016.
Finally he had to eat the humble pie when this year the court absolved Sheikh Zakzaky of all the absurd charged leveled against him by the Nigerian regime.
The IMN Leader, true to the teachings of Islam as expounded by the Ahl al-Bayt, bears no grudge towards his tormentor and says the door of repentance is open for those sincerely seeking the forgiveness of the All-Merciful God and respecting the birthrights of all citizens, who as per the Nigerian constitution have the freedom to follow any creed of their choice.
He, however, feels his duty to console the bereaved families of the Zaria massacre, and while commemorating its 6th anniversary in the city of Abuja, said it was a matter of regret that the Nigerian state has turned out to be an instrument of terrorism.
In Sunday’s gathering in the federal capital where intellectuals from various strata of society were present, the survivors of the 2015 massacre recounted the horrific events including the soldiers’ shooting to death of children and pregnant women, as well as burning people alive.
Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife who are suffering from 11 serious ailments as a result of the brutal behaviour of the Nigerian jailors, including heart disease; cervical/lumbar spondylitis; right eye advanced-progressive glaucoma; and heavy metal poisoning of lead and cadmium, deplored the human rights abuses of the regime, and that too on the orders of certain foreign countries.
In his speech, Sheikh Zakzaky said: “No doubt, human beings are bound to live together, and living together makes it necessary for them to have laws, rules and regulations that will govern their lives. The most fundamental of all the rights are the rights of every individual who is alive, is the right to live, and no one can take away his/her life.”
Hopefully, the Nigerian authorities will heed these points and abide by the clauses of the constitution guaranteeing freedom of worship to all citizens. This means they should also stop imprisoning and killing their own citizens on the orders of outside elements, which are openly funding and arming the Boko Haram terrorists.