Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigera, otherwise known as the Shi’ites, under the leadership of Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky have accused Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai of being biased, for banning public procession by the Islamic sect, and allegedly taking side with the soldiers after the killing of some of its members.
In a statement yesterday, the media spokesman of the group, Ibrahim Musa, said the statewide broadcast made by Governor El-Rufai last Thursday night was anti- Shi’ite.
The company added it was thus not involved in collecting payments from the marketers buying from the NNPC.
FEL said the announcement of sanctions by the DPR was potentially hugely damaging to its reputation and sought a quick reversal from the DPR, which it has now obtained.
The DPR in a letter announcing the lifting of the suspension after further investigations, acknowledged that there was no evidence that FEL financially benefitted from any over-invoicing by a third-party.
The statement frowned at what it described as one-sided broadcast by the governor which it claimed, brought up a number of allegations against the Islamic Movement.
According to the statement, “Going by the concept and tone of the state broadcast on the extra-judicial killing of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria by the Nigerian Army, delivered by the Kaduna state Governor, Nasir Ahmed El-rufai, it is clear that the governor is more like an extremist anti- Shi’ite governor and not a state governor.
“Although the governor took his time in his speech to elaborate on rights to religion and social association, he chose to deny only the Shi’ites such rights who he sees as his enemies.
“Clearly, he spent considerable time collecting propaganda details indicting the Movement, which further buttresses the point that the state governor has his hands soiled by the blood spilled in the mass extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the Army.
“In that circumstance, no justice should be expected from a speech made up with details only provided by the antagonistic culprits without hearing from the other party who are the victims in this case.
“He alleged that our centre had no building permit and such other allegations. One wonders why, if the Kaduna state government felt the Hussainiyah was wrongly erected or breached planning permits, they did not resort to legal action rather than use of brutal force.
“Why not get a court order to effect an eviction? Or does the government mean there are no magistrates or Alkali left in Zaria anymore? For Governor El-Rufai to claim that there is no valid paper on the land on which Husainiyya was built as the basis for this military attack, only further proves that the attack was premeditated.
“We are equally astonished when the governor in his broadcast claimed that “they had tried to forcibly acquire the property of their neighbours; this is apart from subjecting residents to an illegal curfew. We challenge the governor to cite one particular case where we forcibly acquired a property, let alone a time when we imposed curfew. The governor also claimed that “there had been tension in parts of Zaria since Thursday, 10 December 2015, when members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria were alleged to have attacked Gabari, a community on the outskirts of Zaria, in continuation of a dispute over a mosque.”
“We would like to ask Mr. Governor how many disputes over mosques have been reported in the 37 years that the IMN have been there in Zaria? The idea that Shiites will go and take over a Salafi mosque is as laughable as the idea that Christian evangelicals will raid a Catholic cathedral and tell the adherents to get out.”
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