The Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, popularly referred to as Shi’ite, has announced the suspension of its protests to press for the release of its detained leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
It declared that it had seen a new opening in finding solution to the protracted conflict over the continued detention of its leader.
The president of the media forum of IMN, Ibrahim Musa, in a statement, said it was grateful to all those who had intervened in the crisis.
Musa said the suspension of the protests was to, among other things, respect prominent Nigerians whose intervention, the group considered genuine.
It would be recalled that following the violent protests by members of IMN, leading to loss of lives and property, the Federal Government secured an order of the court declaring the group proscribed.
The statement announcing the suspension of the Free Zakzaky street protests reads: “The Islamic Movement in Nigeria do hereby announce to the general public and the international community that it has temporarily suspended its Free Zakzaky street protests to allow for some new openings into the resolution of the problems, especially the court case instituted by our lawyers on the proscription order made by the federal government this week.
“It has taken this step in good faith out of respect for some eminent people and groups, whose input in the resolution of the problems appears genuine and we sincerely hope an amicable way could be found to solve the crises surrounding the illegal detention of our leader for almost four years now.
“If at all any protests occur anywhere in the country, it might be this notice hasn’t reached those in the field or this message is misunderstood or it is some security agents who are mischievously behind it as they have been doing in an attempt to smear our image and be seen as unruly people rather than as victims of savage oppression since 2015.
“The Islamic Movement wishes to thank both national and international civil rights activists and organizations who have been busy demanding the protection of our fundamental human rights as enshrined in the constitution.
“We also thank the press, both national and international, and the social media activists for the full coverage of our activities throughout the struggle for justice.
“We are committed to exploring the new openings we have seen in resolving this protracted issue. We therefore reiterate our demand that our leader, his wife and several others in detention be given their freedom denied to them since 2015.”
