The Unlawful Continued Detention Of Zakzaky

Since December last year, leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheik Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky has been in military detention. The authorities have not given a concrete reason for his continued detention.  His detention is a serious cause for concern and a breach of the Nigerian constitution.
The Nigerian 1999 Constitution provides that that an accused person, who has been arrested on the allegation of having committed an offence, must be charged to court within 24 hours where a court of competent jurisdiction is located within a radius of forty kilometres from the police station; and where a court is located within a radius above forty kilometres from the police station, the accused person must be charged to court within 48 hours or such longer period as a court might consider reasonable.
Therefore, it is illegal and unconstitutional for a suspect to be detained for more than 48 hours by the police (or government agency) without bail or without charging the individual to court. Government agencies include agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) etc.
It will be recalled that this is more than a year ago, his followers had a bust up with the military in Zaria where the military accused his followers of blocking the convoy of the chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai. What followed was the worst recorded genocide in recent times by the military. The Kaduna State Government had announced that 347 persons were killed during the clash. Some sources have claimed over 1000 lives were lost that faithful night. Even the Commission of Inquiry, set up by the Kaduna State Government indicted both parties in the saga.
The last time I checked, El Zakzaky had not been charged to court for any crime or maybe, blocking the convoy of the chief of Army staff is now a crime punishable by at least one year detention.
It is instructive to note that the Shites sect has constituted itself a nuisance in Zaria and Kaduna. They were a law unto themselves and live as though they are above the law. One of the most frustrating days of my life was when I ran into a Shite procession in Zaria and all the roads were blocked. I spent hours on traffic with a scary sight of the members of the movement, all dressed in black, reminding me of principalities and powers. There was nothing we could do and they had this “you can go to hell” mentality and the truth was there was nothing we could do. Eight of out 10 people living in the Gyellesu area in Zaria have bad memories of the Shite sect. To cut the long story short, they are hated because of their antics and superior complex in Zaria.
However, that does not justify the massacre by the military and continued detention of their leader. Every Nigerian, no matter his religion or tribe, has equal rights in the eyes of the law. Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El Rufai poured more fuel to the raging fire by banning the sect in Kaduna, to me that is needless and unnecessary at this point in time. Kaduna has been a hotbed of religious crisis and the rash move by the governor will just escalate the crisis. Immediately after the pronouncement, some misguided youths started burning the houses of some of the members in Kaduna.
Nigeria is not an animal farm and the authorities should, as a matter of urgency, charge El Zakzaky to court or release him. As we are still battling with the Boko Haram sect, we don’t need another insurgency on our hands right now.