Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat Ibrahim, have been discharged and acquitted by a court in Kaduna.
A Kaduna State High Court presided by Justice Gideon Kurada on Wednesday delivered the judgement that cleared the couple of all the charges filed against them by Kaduna State Government.
The duo are standing trial on eight counts bordering on alleged culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, disruption of public peace, among others.
The trial lasted two years and three months.
Sheikh Zakzaky was arrested by the military on December 14, 2015, after a clash between the movement and personnel of the Nigerian army.
The army killed at least 347 followers of the scholar, including his three biological children.
On December 2, 2016, an Abuja Division of the Federal High Court ordered the release of the Shia leader. Delivering the judgement, Justice Gabriel Kolawole (as he then was), rejected the submission of the counsel to the Department of State Service, Tijjani Gazali, that Zakzaky was kept in protective custody of the DSS.
“I have not been shown any incident report or any complaint lodged by residents around the neighbourhood that the applicant has become a nuisance to his neigbourhood,” said the judge.
A statement by IMN’s head of media team, Ibrahim Musa, on Wednesday, said the cleric and his spouse were standing trial for sundry charges, including that of aiding and abetting culpable homicide punishable by death.
“Today, Wednesday, 28/07/2021 the Kaduna State High Court presided by Justice Gideon Kurada delivered a favourable judgement in the ‘no case submission’ filed by the defense lawyers on the case brought against the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife, Malama Zeenah Ibrahim, who were standing trial for sundry trumped up charges, including that of aiding and abetting culpable homicide punishable by death.”
“With this victory in court today, the false charges filed against them has finally been punctured for good after almost five years of excruciating illegal detention,” he said.
He said this judgement “has not only vindicated them and all members of the Islamic movement in Nigeria, but it is certainly a victory for perseverance in the face of extreme persecution by the Nigerian government. It is a victory for truth and justice against tyranny and impunity.”
The federal government, however, “remained in contempt until they decided to frame these spurious false charges in an attempt to perpetually keep them in their illegal custody,” the statement said.
The movement said “we, therefore, give praises to the Almighty for yet another successful outing, which further proves to the world that the Islamic Movement and its leader, are only victims of impunity and mischievous plots by both the Buhari-led federal government and the El-Rufai-led Kaduna state government.
“We wish to use this opportunity to also say a big thank you to all people of conscience, human rights activists and organizations, journalists and all those that joined in our dogged campaign for justice for the victims of Zaria genocide for the past five years.”
