Falana To Buhari: Free Zakzaky…’Remember How It Felt When Babaginda Detained You’

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari in a letter, urging him to “be humane by ordering the release” of Sheik Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, also known as Shiites, and the cleric’s wife, Zainab, from custody. The detainees have been in the custody of the Department of State Service (DSS) since December 2015 following a clash between El-Zakzaky’s followers and Nigerian soldiers in Zaria, Kaduna State.

Falana’s November 7 letter is his second such letter to the Presidency demanding the release of the detainees following an earlier one dated June 2, 2017 addressed to then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo during Buhari’s medical vacation in London. Falana reminded Buhari that the continued detention of the couple was in violation of the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja delivered on December 2, 2016. He pleaded with the president to consider the detainees’ deteriorating health and immediately order their release.

Falana noted that Buhari, having been illegally detained in the past by former Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), and also recently battled a serious illness, was in a position to appreciate the couple’s “agony” in custody. He called on the Federal Government to be humane and refrain from subjecting citizens to inhuman treatment. Meanwhile, Falana who is counsel to El-Zakzaky Wednesday withdrew the petition against the Nigerian Army at the Presidential Investigation Panel on Human Right Violations. The rights lawyer said stated that although it was painful, he had to withdraw the petition in view of the fact that there was already a judicial commission of inquiry currently handling the case.

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