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Somber Mood and High Spirits as Vancouver Crowd Demands Release of Popular Nigerian Leader.
8-20-2019
It was a cloudy day and rain seemed imminent on Saturday, August 10, 2019, as people gathered at the Art gallery in downtown Vancouver to demand that the Nigerian government release Sheikh Ibrahim Yaqoub Al-Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), an organization with an estimated 20 million members and a record of humanitarian work on a massive scale in that Western African country.
The IMN has a history of providing services such as free medical care and housing and it has good relations with Christians and other religious denominations in Nigeria. The movement is deeply rooted in and committed to a philosophy of nonviolence and engagement.
Sheikh Zakzaky founded the IMN while a student at Ahmadu Bello University and was arrested by various Nigerian regimes in the 1980s and 1990s. But it wasn't until the mid 2000s that the Nigerian regime started a truly brutal and horrific crack down on the Sheikh and his followers as the movement grew in leaps and bounds and attracted all segments of society towards itself. The latest iteration of human rights violations and vicious political violence against the group can be traced to Friday 25 July 2014 when the Nigerian army opened fire on people protesting on Al Quds day against the Israeli regime. Thirty-five people were mowed down in cold blood, including 3 of the Sheikh's sons.
The speech by Sheikh Murtaza Bachoo at the Vancouver Art Gallery emphasized the necessity of protesting the injustice that has been inflicted upon Sheikh Zakzaky and many Nigerians. It highlighted the peaceful and cooperative nature of the IMN. Other speakers pointed out that the IMN has spoken out against ISIS and Boko Haram and has worked to spread peace and harmony in Nigerian society. Sheikh Bachoo pointed to the support for Sheikh Zakzaky from various Christian leaders in Nigeria as proof of the multi-denominational approach of the IMN. He also condemned the Buhari government for its brutality against the Nigerians and ill treatment of Sheikh Zakzaky. The atmosphere was somber, but was underlined with a feeling of fulfillment because as the Sheikh pointed out and the crowd that had gathered to watch him speak affirmed, standing up and raising one’s voice for the oppressed is always a spiritually fulfilling activity that gladdens one’s heart and raises one’s spirits.
The culmination of the Nigerian governments irrational fear of a popular movement came with a brutal attack on the house of Sheikh Zakzaky, in which hundreds of his followers were shot and three more of the Sheikh's sons were gunned down. The incident became known as the “2015 Zaria massacre.” The Sheikh suffered gunshot wounds and lost an eye and his wife was also shot by the bloodthirsty security forces. Both the Sheikh and his wife were subsequently arrested and the Sheikhs' health rapidly deteriorated while under detention. He suffered many mini-strokes and a recent visit by doctors found alarmingly high cadmium and lead levels in his blood stream, leading many to believe that the Buhari government was intent on assassinating the leader in captivity.
The innocence of Sheikh Zakzaky and the injustice meted out to him by President Muhammad Buhari and the Kaduna regional government was laid bare in a judgement of the Nigerian High court on December 2nd, 2016 when the judge declared that false justification of holding the Sheikh “for his own protection” was not sufficient to warrant his detention. The judge ordered the government to pay the Sheikh $50 million Naira ($164,052) in compensation. Yet, the corrupt regime ignored the legal order and continued to hold the Sheikh in detention as his health gradually worsened. Various Christian and Muslim personalities through out Nigeria called for his immediate release as all people of conscience throughout Nigeria and the rest of the world rallied around this innocent man. Protests were held all over the world, including Vancouver. In the UK, a 30-day marathon protest was held outside the Nigerian High Commission, demanding his release.
As people screamed “freedom!” in response to the question “what do we want?”, the drab and cloudy weather at the Vancouver Art Gallery seemed to not matter, for the cries for justice freshened the damp afternoon air and filled the people with hope. The clouds threatened all day, but not a single drop fell on the crowd that had gathered to protest a gross injustice. It seemed that the weather, too, was aligned with people’s hearts and their thirst for justice. It started raining shortly after the crowd dispersed.
By Jamshed Abbas
Developments following the protest:
On Monday 12th August, Shaykh Zakzaky was released from his detention facility and travelled from Nigeria to India via Dubai. However, upon arriving in India, a series of complications transpired that made it apparent that this trip may not achieve its goals. Most noteworthy was that Nigerian officials from the Embassy and their security personnel were no longer simply ‘supervising’ but rather had taken control of all affairs related to the Shaykh’s treatment. They had liaised with Indian authorities such that they could act with impunity. Indian authorities were informed that Shaykh Zakzaky was a terrorist who needed heavy handed treatment. This was supposed be a trip for medical tourism, in which Shaykh had been granted permission to travel. It was not supposed to be a political or inter-governmental initiative with interference from government agencies and armed personnel who would harass the Shaykh and be abusive. The circumstances created by the Nigerian and Indian authorities ultimately prevented Shaykh from his chosen doctors, his legal team, his own security and his advisors, and thereafter tried to appoint their own doctors for him. Shaykh described his hospital room as yet another detention facility but even stricter than that in Nigeria.
At this point Shaykh could no longer trust the treatment he was being offered. The people who were responsible for poisoning him, killed his 6 sons, massacred thousands of members of his movement and who kept him unlawfully in detention for the last 3 and a half years, could not possibly be solely given the responsibility of his treatment in a foreign country without any supervision from his close advisors and legal team. This was unacceptable. The role of the cruel Nigerian security services went above and beyond simple ‘supervision’ and the actions of the Indian authorities in facilitating the harassment at the hands of the Nigeria security services was extraordinary, violating medical ethics and human rights of a patient. These circumstances were something no sensible person could continue to trust or have faith in.
The Shaykh put out video messages from his hospital room, describing his situation, explaining that he has been prevented from receiving adequate medical treatment for his needs due to the interference of the Nigerian authorities and declared his intention to return to Nigeria.
It is important to note here that Shaykh Zakzaky is an intelligent scholar and revolutionary who makes his own decisions. He is the leader of millions of people and is a wise decision maker. In no way, should anyone think that the respected Shaykh has other people or organisations telling him what to do or what to think. He receives advice from a number of sources, including from IHRC, IMN and others, but he was the person who decided to travel to India and he was the person who decided to return to Nigeria. And true to his word, he returned without medical treatment even though it meant walking back into his prison cell.
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