Femi Adi/ Kaduna

Shiite women protest in Kaduna

Female members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria on Tuesday in Kaduna demanded for unconditional release of their revered leader , Sheikh Ibrahreem El-Zakzaky and wife .

The women’s  wing of the Shiite sect also called for immediate release of their husbands and children who  are in detention across the northern states .

The women ,who embarked on a peaceful protest to Kaduna Secretariat of  Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ carrying  poster portraits of Sheikh El-Zakzaky ,also insisted that corpses of Shiite members killed by the  army during the Zaria military operation should be released immediately for burial according to Islamic rites.

Addressing newsmen at NUJ Secretariat ,Secretary of Shiite Women’s Wing , Hajiya Aisha Hassan ,  called on federal government  to accept its crime by paying Diyya ,(Death Compensation) to all affected families and relations.

She complained that the authorities have remained insensitive to the plight of the members detained and killed.

She said government was  unjustly  keeping their leader ,Shiekh El-Zakzaky in custody without allowing any access to him.  Detained injured members  have also been denied access to  treatment, she said.

While noting that that  three weeks had gone since Nigeria Army launched a  brutal attack on members of Islamic Movement in Nigeria , she said, ” These demonic acts perpetrated by the Nigerian army have not only raised the  army’s human abuse records ,but has also turned a lot of women into widows, children into orphans and has also succeeded in wiping out a lot of families.

“All these have led millions of Nigeria into doubting the truth of existence of an freedom of worship in the country as all those killed were only killed for  the crime of going to celebrate the birth month of Holy Prophet Mohammed.”

She further said   soldiers molested  women and removed their hijab which ,a serious violation of Islamic right.

However, she posited that though there were deliberate attempt to intimidate and instigate Shiite sect members into mob action , she gave assurances that the Shiite members will never resort to anything outside legal process of seeking redress.