AhlulBayt News Agency: During a press conference in Abuja on International Human Rights Day, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, criticized the government for its continued repression of peaceful pro-Palestine demonstrators. He noted that nine months after the deaths of several Quds Day protesters, authorities are still withholding 24 corpses, preventing proper Islamic burial rites.
Zakzaky emphasized that Quds Day has been observed worldwide for 46 years without incident, yet in Nigeria, peaceful demonstrations are met with violence. He recalled that during this year’s Quds Day, government forces opened fire on demonstrators, killing 27 people. “The soldiers who killed the demonstrators were from the Brigade Guard, soldiers who guard the president. We managed to pick up six bodies, but up till today, they have refused to give us the remaining 21 bodies of the martyrs. It is nine months now,” he stated.
In addition to withholding the bodies of the deceased, Zakzaky reported that 173 men and 12 women remain imprisoned in Suleja and Kuje despite a Federal High Court ruling exonerating them from false murder charges. He condemned the government’s response to peaceful demonstrations, calling it “shameful” that solidarity with the Palestinian people is met with gunfire in Nigeria.
The Islamic Movement’s leader urged the government and security forces to redirect their efforts toward combating armed terrorists and bandits rather than targeting peaceful protesters.
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