An
Abuja division of the Federal High court Friday ordered the release of the
leader of Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader
of the Shiite Islamic Movement in Nigeria.
El-Zakzaky
was arrested by the military December 14, 2015, after a clash between members
of the movement and soldiers, where some 340 persons were feared killed.
But,
the IMN leader approached the court to demand his release, months after he was
arrested without being charged and demanded that the court should declare his
arrested and subsequent detention as violation of his fundamental rights.
Femi Falana, counsel to the leader
urged the court to declare the continued detention of his client without
charging him as unlawful.
Justice
Gabriel Kolawole, while delivering judgment on the case rejected the submission
made by Tijjani Gazali, counsel to
the department of state security service (DSS) that El-Zakzaky was kept in
protective custody of the Nigerian secret service.
His
words: “The decision to hold the Islamic
cleric and his wife for their safety was not based on law”.
But,
the judge said “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.”
He said
the decision of the government to hold the applicant for so long amounted to
great danger.
Citing
the death of former leader of the Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, the judge said; “If the applicant dies in custody
which I do not pray for, it could result in many needless deaths”.
Kolawole
said the government should within 45 days release the applicant and his families
to the police, who shall within 24 hours, take them guarded by escort to a safe
place.
He added that the SSS will pay a fine of N25
million each to El-Zakzaky and his wife making a total of N50 million.
No comments:
Post a Comment