Lawyer condemns FG continued detention of El-zayzaky, wife
* warns FG not to take protest for granted
A United States based human rights legal practitioner and the Co-ordinator, Justice for Jos Project, Mr. Emmanuel Ogebe has condemned the continued detention of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) also known as Shiite Muslims Ibraheem El-zayzaky and his wife by the Federal government.
Describing their detention without duly charging them to court as illegal, null and void, Ogebe called for their immediate release.
The IMN leader and his wife were arrested on December 14, 2015 in Zaria following a clampdown on Shiites by the Nigerian Army.
At least 347 members Shiites were killed and secretly buried in mass graves by the army.
A Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Gabriel Kolawale had in December 2016 ordered the release of Mr. Zakzaky and his wife but since then, the government refused to obey the order.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Ogebe, the son of a retired Supreme Court Justice, described the continuous detention of El-zakyzaky as a dent on the human rights record of the country.
He said, “This government has failed woefully in the area of human rights. The FG may be creating another Boko Haram unknowingly.
” The FG has a moral burden to release the Shiite leader. Their peaceful protest should not be taken for granted.
“It is not only the country’s economy that is being destroyed, the human rights record of this country is also being affected”.
He also accused the government of not doing enough to rescue the remaining Chibok girls.
He also decried the poor condition of some of the Chibok girls that were taken to the United States by the government for studies.
According to him, the federal government did not only tool them to the ghetto part of the US but also abandoned them.
” claims by the Federal government that over $1m was spent on the girls has nothing to show for it”.
He added that the ten Chibok girls he took to the US for studies and rehabilitation are currently doing well.
