23 Dec 2024
Wednesday 28 September 2016 - 18:09
Story Code : 233140

Nigeria given 7-day ultimatum to release Ibraheem Zakzaky

TEHRAN (FNA)- A group in Nigeria renewed its demand for the unconditional release of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky from detention.

The group, Save Zakzakys Life, issued on Tuesday a seven-day ultimatum to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to release Zakzaky, who is the leader of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), press tv reported.

The group also warned that if the government fails to meet their demand, they will have no other alternative but to call on millions of his followers to take to the streets. It said the sheikhs supporters will also stage a sit-in until he is released.

The National coordinator of the group, Bashir Marafa, said they have already begun mobilizing millions of Zakzakys followers to storm [the capital,] Abuja, for what we called MOTHER OF ALL PROTESTS, and SIT AROUND IN ABUJA CITY, as long as Zakzaky is not released unconditionally, within the next 7 days.

The clerics followers are concerned about his health condition, which has been deteriorating over the past nine months in detention. He has been detained since December 13, 2015, when Nigerian forces raided his home and killed three of his sons as well as his wife.

A day earlier, soldiers had attacked Shia Muslims attending a ceremony at a religious center in the city of Zaria in north-central Nigeria, accusing them of blocking the convoy of the armys chief of staff and attempting to assassinate him, which they denied.

They killed hundreds of members of the religious community. Some sources have put the toll at over 1,000.

Zakzaky had lost three other sons in the summer of 2014 during attacks by Nigerian soldiers on the International Quds day.

Save Zakzakys Life had last week issued a 14-day ultimatum for his release. Thousands of his followers also held a peaceful mass protest last week in the capital. Many of the protesters were injured after police attacked the demonstrators and fired tear gas to disperse them.

By Fars News Agency
https://theiranproject.com/vdcc01qix2bq1s8.-ya2.html
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