Ten years after the deadly 2015 military clash with members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) in Zaria, the movement’s leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, has declared that the late former President Muhammadu Buhari will account for his actions on the Day of Judgement.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday to commemorate the decade since the violence that led to hundreds of deaths and the eventual proscription of the IMN, El-Zakzaky accused both the Buhari administration and the current government of refusing to acknowledge the killings, release the 2016 Kaduna State judicial commission of inquiry report, or compensate affected families.
The crisis began in December 2015 when IMN members blocked the convoy of then Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, in Zaria.
What started as a confrontation escalated into a military operation that Human Rights Watch said resulted in the deaths and secret burial of over 300 IMN members.
The state-backed judicial commission later concluded that more than 1,000 civilians, mostly Shiites, were killed.
El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, were arrested shortly afterwards and spent nearly six years in detention until their acquittal by a Kaduna High Court in 2021.
“Even though a judicial commission of enquiry was set up and submitted its report on 7th September 2016, nothing came out of it,” El-Zakzaky said.
“The president at the time said he was following the matter with rapt attention. He finished his first and second terms, and they said nothing.”
He accused the current administration of maintaining “total silence” despite earlier assurances that the issue would be addressed.When asked if he had forgiven the late former president, El-Zakzaky replied: “As for Buhari, it’s simple.
"He has passed away. We will meet on the Day of Judgement… The equation of Buhari is over.”
The IMN leader insisted that justice should not require demands from victims. “We don’t have to demand. They know a wrong was done,” he said.
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Far from weakening the movement, El-Zakzaky argued that the 2015 massacre only amplified its global reach, with protests erupting worldwide following his arrest.
He revealed that the Islamic Human Rights Commission has already filed cases at the international level, adding: “All the facts, pictures, videos, speeches are there. One day the court will look at it.”
Despite continued restrictions on public gatherings and event venues, El-Zakzaky vowed that the movement would persist.
“If they don’t want to see us, they will still see us. If they don’t want to hear us, they will still hear us,” he declared.
While expressing openness to dialogue with the government, he cautioned: “They know talk is possible. But actions are another thing.”
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