PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT IN NIGERIA ON SATURDAY THE
23RD OF JUNE, 2018

Gentlemen of the Press,

You are welcome to this briefing on recent occurrences culminating in loss of two of our members and a Policeman in Kaduna recently.

It has come to our notice that the Kaduna State Police Command issued a press statement that it “wishes to inform the general public that again, on the 21st June, 2018, at about 1000hrs the violent members of the proscribed Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) popularly referred to as Shiite, armed with guns, knives, IEDs, etc violently attacked every Police officer on site, during which they brutally killed a Police Officer and injured several others.”

After that it was all on the news that a policeman was allegedly killed by the members of the Islamic movement in Nigeria while engaged in a free Zakzaky procession. To back up the story, there was a video supposedly of ‘Shiites’ lynching a policeman that has gone viral on the internet.

Most certainly, this is NOT true at all. It is the greatest subterfuge of all times. We have it on records that Senior Police Officers had met thugs called Civilian JTF a day before the incident at a place called Kinkinau Quarters of Kaduna and plotted this callous and unfortunate murders to be carried out when we come out to conduct our free Zakzaky processions. This was to discredit us in order to turn the tables against us. Thus the reported killing of the policeman was a handiwork of some desperate people out to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. It was the result of a joint handiwork of policemen and thugs.

Furthermore, the state Police Public Relations Officer was overheard a day before saying that there was going to be war the following day, and that he would personally take an AK47 and come out. Another police officer had warned friends living around the Central Market, Tudun Wada, Rigasa that the police would engage on some special operations the following day and that it would be best to avoid such places.

There are also reports reaching us that indicate that Police, in an unholy alliance with thugs called Civilian JTF, have planned a house-to-house attacks on certain targeted members of the Islamic Movement living in Kaduna from yesterday. According to our sources, the police had assured the thugs of state backing and cover. “Nothing will happen to you,” they were told.

The Islamic Movement strongly distances itself from this crude act. It was most certainly NOT by members of the Islamic Movement. Throughout our four decades of existence, the Islamic movement in Nigeria under Sheikh Zakzaky's leadership has never resorted to violence even in the midst series of persecution of its members across the country. Why would anyone kill a policeman who is also a victim of bad governance?

As thugs were callously and unjustifiably killing a policeman, the police were actively sporadically shooting on members of the Islamic Movement with live ammunition as they scampered for cover. What time did they have to kill another soul? Since December 2015, on the streets of Kaduna alone, we have lost 23 members to police bullets, and at least 5, this year alone. What have we done in response other than resort to Courts seeking the enforcement of our rights to peacefully protest?

This desperate tactics of wanting to smear our name is nothing new.
Any criminal activity done in the state, the police and authorities are quick to attribute to the Islamic Movement in Nigeria because of the hate it has for the Movement. A clear example was the kidnap of a soldier in Kaduna some years back, only for them to later disprove themselves.

It is of great significance for the public to know that, members of the Movement in Kaduna are peaceful. They are coming out to peacefully
protest for the release of their leader who had been in illegal and unconstitutional detention for over two and half years in spite a federal high court judgement ordering his immediate release since December 2016. It is pertinent for the police to stop intimidating us whenever we are out exercise our constitutional rights of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

SIGNED BY

Prof Abdullahi Danladi
Resource Forum of the Islamic Movement

Police will hang on to this one, justice is far from Elzakzaky.

So who is responsible for it?