Sheikh Imran to Al-Ahed: Sheikh Elzakzaky’s Abduction Poses a Serious Problem for Nigeria

Fatima Haydar

Last Saturday, the Nigerian army opened fire on Shia Muslims attending a ceremony in Baqeeyatullah Husayniyah, a religious center in Zaria, Kaduna state. The attack martyred and injured dozens of Nigerians including prominent members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria [IMN].

Military and religious sources confirmed to al-Ahed news that the IMN was organizing the traffic at the area where its annual ceremony was held when the convoy of Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai was stopped by an IMN member.

However, a military source who spoke on condition of anonymity said that on the night of the attack, General Buratai's convoy was heading to a "Wahhabi stronghold not far from the Husayniyah."

The source added that "after a while, the general's convoy returned armed with tanks and soldiers and surrounded the religious gathering... moments later, he surprised the crowd under the pretext of blocking his convoy."

"The general's soldiers destroyed the Husainiyah and opened fire indiscriminately on the unarmed gathering" the source explained.

The military attack on Sheikh Elzakzaky and his followers martyred and wounded scores of defenseless civilians. However, the exact death and injury tolls are yet to be verified; as the toll varies from as few as 30 martyrs to as many as 500.

For his part, Sheikh Dawood Imran, a prominent religious figure in Nigeria, informed al-Ahed News that the Nigerian army had demolished a large part if not the whole residence of Sheikh Elzakzaky and killed a number of residents protecting the Sheikh's house.

Thus far, "the fate of Sheikh Elzakzaky is unknown. What is known till the moment is that he had been abducted by the Nigerian army" Sheikh Imran confirmed.

He further added that "other religious figures of the Islamic movement had also been killed".

Nonetheless, Sheikh Dawood Imran mentioned an "old feud" between Sheikh Elzakzaky and his followers and the Nigerian army.

He said that "this is not the first time the Nigerian army or security forces attack Shia gatherings."

Hence, Sheikh Imran urged the Nigerian government to "deal with the issue by means of the law" and called for the immediate release of Sheikh Elzakzaky asserting that the "abduction of the Sheikh poses a great problem for Nigeria as a whole; his abduction is the most serious action taken so far."

"Sheikh Elzakzaky should be released immediately in order to prevent a popular uprising in the streets of Nigeria."

Accordingly, Sheikh Imran confirmed to al-Ahed that what happened in Nigeria on the 12th of December was due to sectarian incitements in Nigeria.

"Sheikh Elzakzaky knows very well - before assuming his current position - that there are various Generals who are against him. These Generals know that our brothers in the Movement have their own internal integrated system but there is sectarian hatred: the Generals are Sunnis and the Islamic Movement is Shia. It is most probably a sectarian aversion."

Source: al-Ahed News