Proscription will not end Shi’ites’ clash with Nigerian government – Sani

A former senator and rights activist, Shehu Sani, on Sunday said the ongoing face-off between the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) and the Nigerian Government will not come to an end with the announced proscription of the group.

He, however, urged the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III and other prominent Islamic leaders to stand as guarantors for the groups’ detained leader, Sheikh Ibrahhem El-Zakzaky and his wife.

Sani spoke in Kano with newsmen on Sunday.

He said the proscription of the group and branding them terrorists will worsen the situation instead of ameliorating it.

His words: “The solutions to IMN problem, in my personal opinion, are four. The first is that the Sultan of Sokoto and other religious leaders should provide guarantee to the Federal Government on which the leader of the IMN would be released to them. Secondly, the IMN should stop all forms of protest, whether peaceful or violent.

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“The third aspect of it: the government should move towards addressing the problems of their members who were killed and their homes that were destroyed, in compliance with the previous court orders.

“The fourth aspect of it is that the movement should stop its alleged relationship with nations outside of Nigeria that pose security threats on our country. If they are a movement, they should be a movement; as the name implies, a Nigerian movement to pursue their ideas, their beliefs and whatever they preach.”

The senator advised that everything should be done to avoid a situation where the movement will suddenly disappear from the radar to spring surprises.

Sani said: “The court of law cannot address a problem of either insurgency or agitation or crushing this kind of idea. We have heard several laws on terrorism. It is 10 years today, but we are still battling Boko Haram. That is one.

“Secondly, which one do we prefer: the Islamic Movement that has a leader we can arrest, that has members we can see, that has an identity that we can prosecute or a group that can be forced to go underground and pose a serious security danger to the country? I think the option is ours.”

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