By Umar Salam.
Sheikh Muhammad Yakubu, the elder brother of detained leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, has warned the Federal Government not to stop at proscribing the IMN, but should also disband all Shi’ite groups in the country, branding them as terrorists.
Sheikh Yakubu, stated that the proscription of the group was long overdue, as according to him, the Shi’ites sect and Boko Haram insurgents share the same ideology.
El-Zakzaky’s elder brother also added that he abandoned the IMN leader when he started his Shi’ism ideology.
He said: “As you may be aware, El-Zakzaky is my blood brother. We were given birth to by the same father. While growing up, before he started this journey into Shi’ism, I didn’t have any close friend apart from him. We did everything together. We studied together in Islamic school.
“We warned him seriously to desist when he started this Shi’ism ideology. I personally warned him several times, and when he refused, I had to abandon him. So, whatever the authorities might have done to him, he caused it for himself.
“There is nothing good about Shi’ism. These people are supposed to have been proscribed a long time ago, but the government waited until they are now causing havoc.
“In the entire world, where has the Chief of Army Staff ever been blocked on the way and denied right of passage? Since the time Shi’ites people did that to the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, they were supposed to have been stopped. But now, the authorities seem to have understood their mission.
“Anywhere the Shi’ites are, they are always a problem. They are the ones that ruined Iraq. They are the ones that ruined Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. All the crises you see in the Middle-East, Shi’ites are responsible for them.
“You see, with their protests, they çan take over government. The enemies of the country and enemies of the sitting government can take advantage of the Shi’ites protest and overthrow the government.
“I believe the government now understands this secret. What the government has done is very right.”
Reacting to a statement credited to another Shi’ites group, Al-Thaqalayn Cultural Foundation who had described the El-Zakzaky-led IMN as fake, Yakubu said: “They are liars. All Shi’ites are one.
“What they are doing is hypocrisy. All of them have the same doctrine and ideology. They are only in Shi’ites leadership tussle with Zakzaky. That is why they are denouncing him publicly.
“Therefore, it is not only Zakzaky’s group that is supposed to be proscribed. The government should outlaw the entire Shi’ites sect. This is because both Boko Haram and Shi’ites share the same ideology.
“They can continue to fool other people that they are not armed, but we know they carry arms. Didn’t you see them shown with their arms?
“They lied that they were not the ones that killed the police officer in Abuja. The Deputy Commissioner of Police that was killed in Abuja was not the first police officer to be killed by the Shi’ites.”
Speaking on the court ruling which ordered the immediate release of the IMN leader, as well as a house being built for him anywhere in the country, Yakubu disclosed that, “Nobody should blame the government for holding him (El-Zakzaky) despite the Abuja court order.
“Some would say, ehn, court ordered that Zakzaky should be released and a house built for him. If they want the government to build a house for Zakzaky, then the government should also build a house for Shekau.
“Do Nigerians agree that government should build a house for Shekau? If no, then government should not build a house for Zakzaky, because they are the same. They are all terrorists.”