By Luka Binniyat

On  August 8, 2014, El-Rufai, then a  chieftain of   the opposition Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, led  a  group of supporters to the home of leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, Shiek Ibrahim Zakzaky, in Gyellesu, Zarina. His mission was to commiserate with the leader of the Shiite whose revulsion for Saudi Arabia, Israel and the US on matters relating to Palestine and Iran had become one of his trademarks.

Though the Shiites  in Zaria  (the headquarters of the IMN) are looked upon by the majority Sunni Muslims of Zaria and environs as a deviant sect, lawless and don’t not take part in politics since their inception in Nigeria about 40 year ago, El-Rufai, nonetheless, went to see Zakzaky over a calamity that had befallen him about two weeks earlier.

El-Zakzaky with Gov. El-Rufai

On  July 25, 2014, thousands of Shiites, men, women and children had massed around the PZ roundabout area – the busiest area of Zaria – to observe their annual Qud’s day, as done  by Shiite all over the world. Qud’s marks global Shiites’ opposition to the formation of the state of Israel and Zionism, and also as a mark of their solidarity with the Palestinian people and their cause.

On that day, a clash had ensued between the Nigerian Army, ostensibly over alleged closure of the road by the Shiite, in an unruly manner, holding thousands of road users to a  standstill for hours. The army used live bullets to clear the road, causing pandemonium and chaos. By the time the dust  cleared, blood covered the deserted area. Trailing the blood were the corpses  of at least 16 people, including those of three other youngsters: Ahmad, Mahmud and Hamid. They were all biological children of Zakzaky and of the same mother. Mahmud was of the Al-Mustapha University, Beirut; Ahmad  was a chemical engineering student from Shenyang University, China, while Hamid was a final year student of Xtain University of China.

So, it was with an air of seeming sincere solemness, sobriety and empathy that El-Rufai approached Zakzaky, in the heat of the rising “revolt” against the ruling PDP in Zaria and environs that drizzling August morning.

An  IMN official, who  claimed to have witnessed the visit, but asked that his name not be mentioned for his security, since the Shiite have been proscribed in Kaduna State, recalled, last Thursday in Kaduna: “I was there when he came to visit the Sheik. We had debated among ourselves whether we should welcome him to the home of our leader. In the end, it was agreed that he could come, since he was talking about justice and against abuse of power and failure of government at that time.

“Let me try to tell you what he said: He said, ‘I wonder at your resilience, I respect your faith in the Almighty Allah. Here you are carrying on with life as if a great disaster has not happened to you. You lost your three sons all of them studying very important courses abroad. They were killed by soldiers. One of them was even a final year student in a Chinese University, where he was a final year student in an aeronautical curse.

“I have lost a son through natural death and for three months I could not concentrate on anything. I could hardly eat. If I were you, I would have been so heartbroken that I would have had a stroke and died, or would have been bedridden and incapacitated. I feel moved by your courage. Please, let me know if there is anything you would want me to do for you. When we come to power we shall never tolerate such impunity. We shall respect the dignity of the human person and the right to life.”

“For the first time, our leader told us  that we should stand with the CPC and Buhari as its leader. He said with people like El-Rufia, should Buhari become President, we shall get justice and that Nigeria will be a better place for everyone.

“So as individuals, we went out, and I swear by the Almighty Allah, without a penny from the APC, campaign for Buhari and El-Rufai when they picked the tickets of their party

“I run a private business; I almost closed it down, using my resources and campaigning for “Change” during the 2015 campaign.

“We deeply regret supporting them. They just used us.”

It was indeed with euphoria   that the IMN came into the latest political dispensation after  the APC won 2015 elections with Muhammadu Buhari as President and  Nasir El-Rufai, as governor of Kaduna State.

A year and four months later, the disaster that was to befall the IMN would make the PDP  administration  looked “saintly”.

When asked for his comments that the Shiite felt betrayed by El-Rufai, his media aide, Samuel Aruwan, after some attempts to get the side of  the governor, e-mailed Sunday Vanguard: Reference: KDS.L.N No ……. 2016: ISLAMIC MOVEMENT IN NIGERIA (UNLAWFUL SOCIETY) DECLARATION ORDER, and made no comment.

In any case, a similar clash between the IMN and the Chief of  the Army Staff, Maj. Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai, at the same PZ junction led to a bloody clampdown on the Shiite in Zaria from the afternoon of December 12 to the morning of  December  14, 2015. As the expansive family compound of Zakazaky, in Gyellesu areas was wrapped in apocalyptic flames, with humans trapped inside, strangely, most Sunni Muslims of Zaria, including some none-Muslims heaved a sigh of relief.

The carnage drew little sympathy from most residents of Zaria  who were united in agreeing that the IMN had become a law unto itself, bullying and harassing residents, a claim totally rejected by the IMN in several press conferences it was to later hold.

In the gory end, three more sons of Zakzaky – Hammad, 17, Ali 15 and Humaid, 13

were slain  among the over 1000 Shiites members killed, according to the IMN.

The government of Kaduna State later put the figure as 347 deaths in the two day’s relentless siege on the Shiite by soldiers of the Nigeria Army. The army conceded that one soldier was killed in the operation.

Citing infringement of Kaduna State building regulations, El-Rufai ordered the demolition of Hussainiya, the administrative headquarters of the IMN and the burnt gyelleus home of Zakzaky and the removal of rubbles from the structures to delete any vestiges of the symbols of the Shiite in Zaria.

Zakzaky and his wife were severely injured, arrested and clamped in DSS jail.

At the end of the clampdown, IMN juveniles, boys and girls, some 12 years, were arraigned  in  courts as among the 250 Shiites  accused and charged for killing a soldier during the crisis.

In January, 2016, El-Rufai set up a  panel of investigation into the violence, headed by Justice Mohammed Garba. The IMN kicked against the constitution of the panel, pointing out that four members of the panel had made public aspersion of the IMN in the past. And that the IMN and their lawyers led by populist, Femi Falana be allowed access to their lawyers. The  condition  was never really met, until the end of the sitting of the panel. The IMN stayed away.

The panel submitted its report. It  accused the Nigeria Army of high handedness and call for the  prosecution of those involved in the killings. But the panel also gave lacerating verdict on the IMN and recommended its proscription  which El-Rufai promptly executed.

On Wednesday, a mob set the home of a local Shiite leader in Tudun Wada area of Kaduna ablaze, and killed four Shiites, while the Shiite were about to undertake their Ashura  procession.

El-Rufai has also declared the spokesman  for the Shiite, Mallam Ibrahim Musa, wanted  for issuing statement on behalf of the IMN.

This could be the worst  period ever for the IMN. Curiously the movement and its leader survived several military regimes with Zakzaky going in and out or jail.