Islamic institute condemns Nigeria for ‘inhumane’ treatment of Sheikh Zakzaky

Al-Mustafa International University, an Islamic academic institution in Iran, has condemned the Nigerian government’s “inhumane” and “unlawful” treatment of jailed senior Muslim cleric Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky as well as the silence of the international community and so-called human rights organizations on the crime.

The university, located in the central Iranian city of Qom, has set propagation of Islamic teachings among the willing across the international community as its goal.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the university highlighted the role of hegemonic powers in the plight of Sheikh Zakzaky, who has long been in detention and witnessed the massacre by Nigerian forces of hundreds of his followers and three of his sons.

The letter said the aggression targeting Sheikh Zakzaky and his followers has the support of the same hegemonic system that has created and handled Takfiri terrorist groups, including Daesh, Boko Haram and al-Shabab, in different parts of the Muslim word.

“The hegemonic system and its stooges have long been working to stifle freedom- and justice-seeking voices all over the world, using various types of oppression,” it said.

Yet, international organizations, including those claiming to be advocates of human rights, have chosen to keep silent in the face of the egregious oppression, including the type that has come to target the Nigerian cleric, the statement added.

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In 2015, the Nigerian army raided the house of Sheikh Zakzaky, which leads the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, detained the cleric and his wife, and killed 350 of the IMN’s supporters.

The country has kept Sheikh Zakzaky, who has been left in dire health condition due to the attack, and his wife in detention ever since.

Back in August, the couple was allowed to travel to India to receive medical treatment as his condition was deteriorating. But they returned to Nigeria a few days later, citing a push by the Nigerian government to “obstruct” his treatment.

The cleric was then transferred to an unknown location upon return from India.

Abuja has also blacklisted the IMN as a “terrorist group” and killed hundreds more in clashes with those rising in protest against its atrocities against the movement.

The statement further pointed to the severity of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife’s health condition, calling on “all the freedom seekers in every part of the world react to this outright oppression and rise in action against this inequity.”

It finally demanded that Abuja immediately set the cleric and his wife free and provide them with the required medical attention.

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