Iran Warns Nigeria Over Al-Zakzaky’s Continued Detention

Iran which is currently involved in a diplomatic brawl with Saudi Arabia following the execution of a renowned Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, has also issued a strong warning to Nigeria.

Iranian spokesman Hoseyn Jaberi-Ansari told journalists that his country had used all diplomatic means to solicit for the release of the prominent Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky

Speaking on Monday, January 4, in the country's capital, Tehran, the Foreign Ministry spokesman Hoseyn Jaberi-Ansari told journalists that his country had used all diplomatic means to solicit for the release of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky, who was arrested by the Nigerian army in Zaria, BBC reports.

"We have used all those channels to warn them [Nigeria] regarding this issue. So hopefully the government… would adopt wise action given the sensitive situation," Jaberi-Ansari said.

Recall that Sheikh al-Zakzaky was arrested last month by officials of the Nigerian Army after members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) reportedly barricaded the road; bring an abrupt stop to the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Tukur Buratai.

The Army alleged that the lawless act was anassassination attempt on the life of Buratai, but the group had long denied the claim.

A Human Rights Watch in its report alleged that no fewer than 300 Shia members whom were killed in the bloody clash were hastily laid to rest in mass graves.

Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, is the leader of the Shia minority group which has been operating within the boundaries of Northern Zaria for some time now. He is also the leader of IMN, which was formed in the 1980s. The group runs their own hospitals and schools in some parts of the North.

The group in 2014 was involved in a clash with Nigerian soldiers, where three children of al- Zakzaky were among those killed by security operatives.

Reports have it that IMN is supported by Shia-dominated Iran, a development that allows its members easy entrance to the country to study.

As anxiety continue to grow among members and supporters of al-Zakzaky, one Mallam Bala Afuwa, the Yobe state deputy leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, has confirmed that their leader, Mallam Lawan Mustapha Nasidi, is also missing.