(AhlulBayt News Agency) - The group’s spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, made the renewed call yesterday in a statement.He said they were encouraged by Osinbajo’s recent statement at Eko Stakeholders Summit, which condemned police and judges for illegally detaining suspects without trial, Guardian reported.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, represented the acting president at the summit. Musa urged Osinbajo, in his capacity as the acting president to release their detained leaders in line with his declaration at the summit.
He said it is conflicting for government to condemn illegal detention of suspects when El-Zakzaky and others had been detained for more than one year without charging them to court.
Musa said: “It is unfortunate that Osinbajo, who is a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), could serve in a regime that flouts court orders.He, therefore, urged Malami to demonstrate the country’s respect for the rule of law by commencing the process of their release.
The prominent cleric and his wife were taken into custody on December 14, 2115, after deadly clashes between the supporters of the IMN movement and Nigerian troops.
Nearly 350 members of the Shia movement were killed in the clashes. The sheikh was brutally injured and his house was reportedly destroyed by the army in the incident.
The judge said he had given 45 days for authorities to provide new accommodation for the Zakzaky family. The accommodation is to be in the town of Zaria, Kaduna state, where the family were detained, or in other parts of the state or alternatively any other part of northern Nigeria.
Kolawole said the State Security Service would pay each of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife $78,984 in compensation for the violation of their rights by being held in unlawful custody for nearly a year.
Nearly 100 IMN supporters were killed when Nigerian forces fired live rounds and tear gas at mourners during a peaceful march ahead of the Arbaeen mourning rituals, which mark 40 days after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shia Imam. Authorities also destroyed a number of buildings belonging to the IMN.
The Nigerian government has stepped up its crackdown on the IMN since the December 2015 deadly incident.