A Kaduna State High court presided over by Justice Gideon Kurada yesterday set free leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) also known as the Shiite group, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, after over five years in detention.
Recall that El-Zakzaky and Zeenat were arrested in December 2015, following a bloody clash between his followers and soldiers in Zaria, Kaduna State.
The husband and wife were tried for culpable homicide, disruption of public peace and unlawful assembly among some other offences
Addressing journalists shortly after the court session, counsel to E-Zakzaky and wife, Mr. Marshal Abubakar, said the court upheld their no-case submission filed by the defence counsel and agreed that the case lacked merit.
“The trial of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife, Malama Zeenat Ibraheem, has come to an end today. The court has upheld our no-case submission. The court found that the charges that were filed in the year 2018 pursuant to a penal law enacted by the Kaduna State government in 2017 over offences allegedly committed in 2015 is ab-initio.
“The court ruled that the charge ought not to be in the first place, because you cannot arraign a man for an offence that was already committed as at the time the said crime was not an offence. And the Court was very emphatic on that,” he said.
He agreed that though the Kaduna State government has powers to enact laws, “they cannot enact law to prosecute an offence prospectively. That is the first ground on which the court held that, that charge was incompetent.
“On another footing, the no-case-submission we filed in court, the court agreed with us that the trial lacked merits that the prosecution only came to court to tell stories that are at cross variance with the offences that were alleged in the charges.
“The court agreed with us that, El-Zakzaky and his wife have committed no offence. The Court, however, discharged and acquitted El-Zakzaky and his wife. It said there should not have been any charge against El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat in the first place,” he said.
But the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Dari Bayero, made no comments
Reacting to the development, IMN spokesman, Mr. Ibrahim Musa said the court’s ruling was victory for perseverance in the face of extreme persecution by the Nigerian government.
“The judgement has not only vindicated our leader and all members of the movement in Nigeria, but a victory for perseverance in the face of extreme persecution by the Nigerian government. It is a victory for truth and justice against tyranny and impunity.
“We, therefore, give praises to the Almighty for yet another successful outing, which further proves to the world that the Islamic Movement and its leader, are only victims of impunity and mischievous plots by both the Buhari-led federal government and the El-Rufai-led Kaduna State government.
“Since both governments have again failed in court after a fair trial, we expect them to respect the judgement of this honourable court and the course of justice to release them with immediate effect.
“We wish to use this opportunity to also say a big thank you to all people of conscience, human rights activists and organisations, journalists and all those that joined in our dogged campaign for justice for the victims of Zaria genocide for the past five years,” Musa said in a statement.
