After 2 years Kaduna govt finally files charges against El-Zakzaky, wife

Kaduna State government has eventually leveled charges of murder against leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), also known as Shi’ites, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, his wife, Zeenah, and two others.

El-Zakzaky and his wife were arrested after the December 12, 2015 bloody clash between Shi’ites and soldiers in the entourage of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, in Zaria, Kaduna State.

However, the Federal High Court in Abuja, in December 2016 ordered the release of the couple from custody.

Since then, El-Zakzaky and his wife had been detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) for over two years without charge.

The charge of murder and other various offences filed against them by Kaduna State government came following weeks of repeated clashes in Abuja between the Nigerian Police and hundreds of protesting Shi’ite members requesting for the release of their leader, his wife and others.

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In the charge, the state government accused the defendants of murdering a soldier, Corporal Yakuku Dankaduna, who it claimed was in the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, during the December 2015 bloody clash between Shi’ites and the soldiers in the convoy in Zaria, Kaduna State.

In all, eight counts were filed against the IMN leader and the three other co-defendants in respect of the incident.

El-Zakzaky, his wife, Yakub Katsina and Sanusi Koki, were named in the charges marked KDH/KAD/60C/2018 and dated April 18, 2018.

 

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