A decade after the December 2015 military clash in Zaria that left hundreds of his followers dead, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), has declared that the late former President Muhammadu Buhari will account for the killings before Allah on the Day of Judgement.
Speaking at a commemorative press conference, the Shiite cleric recalled how a minor road blockage by IMN members escalated into a brutal military operation that saw soldiers kill and secretly bury over 300 people, with a Kaduna State judicial commission later confirming more than 1,000 civilian deaths, mostly IMN members.
El-Zakzaky accused both the Buhari administration and the current government of President Bola Tinubu of burying the judicial commission’s report and refusing to acknowledge the massacre or compensate victims.
“Nothing has been done. They do not even acknowledge that anything happened,” he said, noting that the report submitted in September 2016 has never been made public despite Buhari’s public promise to follow the matter closely.
He expressed disappointment that the Tinubu administration, which had earlier hinted at addressing the injustice, has also maintained “total silence.”
Far from crushing the movement, the cleric insisted the 2015 bloodshed only amplified IMN’s voice worldwide, triggering global protests and drawing attention to their cause.
Released in 2021 after six years in detention alongside his wife Zeenat, El-Zakzaky said attempts to “destroy an ideology with a gun” had failed spectacularly.
While open to dialogue with the government, he maintained that authorities already know justice is overdue without needing further demands, revealing that IMN has now taken the case to international courts through the Islamic Human Rights Commission.