A group of protesters stormed the Abuja division of the Federal High Court against the judgement of Justice Gabriel Kolawole that the detained leader of the Shiite Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheik Ibraheem El-Zakzaky be released unconditionally.
Operating under the umbrella of the Coalition on Good Governance and Change Initiative (CGGCI), they aggrieved protesters condemned the judgement describing as “a dangerous precedence would have on law enforcement, security, anti-terror fight, terrorism, extremism and secessionist movements in Nigeria.”
National Chairman of the group, Okpokwu Ogenyi, said the judiciary has dealt a fresh blow to the future of Nigeria by legalizing terrorism while leaving the rest of the people at risk of losing our lives.
Ogenyi who described the judgement as ridiculous, wondered how the judge could order the release of a person believed to be a security risk to the society through his extreme brand of foreign-backed Islamic radicalization programme.
“Nigerians are ever ready to do the needful in safeguarding the future of our dear nation and hence would demand that Justice Kolawole be investigated by the National Judicial Council (NJC).
This could have only been in keeping with fulfilling obligations entered into for less than honourable considerations even as we cannot rule out a judiciary that is taking its pound of flesh from an executive arm that has exposed the sleaze on its soiled bench.
“If the entire judiciary has activated its vendetta against the security agencies that they see as the executive arm, the precedence set by Justice Gabriel Kolawole took things to the ridiculous by awarding N50 million of tax payers’money to finance IMN’s radicalisation programme while also asking that the police further deploy its personnel to protect a man whose sect members would invariably kill like they had killed soldiers and policemen in recent past.
This judge also failed to realize the weight of his utterance that has basically ordered the government to build a new headquarters for a proscribed group – we do hope he will keep himself on the bench for when other terror groups approach to demand for the government to build them headquarters.
“The house demolished in Gyellesu, on which the directive to build a new one for this demagogue, originally belonged to Alhaji Ismail Gwarzo the DG NSO under late General Sani Abacha. El-Zakyzaky was given the seized house by Gen Abdulsalam because people of Babban Dodo had at time also rebelled against IMN occupation which made them to burn his initial hub after he was released from another arrest for insurrection.”
The group said Justice Kolawole had murdered sleep with his ruling adding that he did this confidently because security agencies under obligation use taxpayers’ money to protect him and other judges who do not know the magnitude of the threat that terrorism poses to citizens.
