Nigerian government must end oppression against Sheikh Zakzaky

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Shia Marja (source of emulation) Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi said that the Nigerian government must end atrocity against Sheikh Zakzaky.

Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi stated on Sunday that the Nigerian government must take responsibility for the Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, and end the atrocity against him.

Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi further called Sheikh Zakzaky as a heroic and warrior figure who has dedicated his six children to Islam.

Makarem Shirazi also expressed regret over the humiliating silence of human rights claimants and heads of Islamic countries over the situation of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife, saying: "The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns this outrageous injustice behaviour against Sheikh Zakzaky and his family and calls on the Nigerian government to take responsibility for the consequences of its actions."

During a meeting with members of the family of the Nigerian cleric, a member of the Assembly of Experts Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, and a senior Marja in Qom Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli also called on the international community to ask for the release of Sheikh Zakzaky.

Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife were arrested on December 13, 2015, in a Nigerian military attack in Zaria city. After efforts, protests and domestic and international pressure, the Nigerian court allowed Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife to travel to India for treatment in August 2019, but due to dissatisfaction with the treatment process, security restrictions, and the lack of trustworthy doctors, Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife left India for Nigeria after spending two days in that country.

A High Court ordered the Department of State Services on December 5 to transfer the cleric and his wife, Zinat, to the Correctional Center in Kaduna state, northwest of the country. The unsanitary conditions in Kaduna prison have only heightened concerns about the state of health of Sheikh Zakzaky.

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