September 06, 2019
Nigeria has charged that its most famous Shiite cleric has been paid by Iran to lead a Khomeini-style revolution and seize power in the African state.
The charge did not seem plausible to many, given that Nigeria is about 55 percent Christian and 45 percent Muslim and the Muslims are overwhelmingly Sunni.
The federal government accused Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader of the Shiite Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), of being sponsored by Iran to carry out a revolution like that in 1979 in Iran.
In documents filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja August 28, the federal government said the plan of the IMN leader and his sponsor was to forcibly turn the country into an Islamic state.
The federal government urged the court to dismiss the suit the IMN filed to challenge the order that banned the group in Nigeria.
The court on July 26 had declared the IMN a terrorist group and proscribed it, a decision the group has challenged.
In the document, the government told the court the relationship between Zakzaky and Iran started shortly after the 1979 revolution in Iran.
It said Zakzaky, who became a Shiite activist while studying at a university in Iran, was “heavily influenced” by the Iranian revolution, and had since galvanized his followers and brainwashed them to unleash mayhem against the Nigerian state and its citizens.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Enyinnaya Adiogu told the court: “From history and facts available, the movement called Islamic Movement of Nigeria founded by El-Zakzaky has its sole aim of creating an Islamic State…. Khomeini remains the Islamic Movement in Nigeria’s main inspiration. Members of IMN pledge allegiance to Khomeini at their gatherings and then to their local leader, Sheikh Zakzaky.
“The IMN views itself as a government, and Sheikh Zakzaky as the only legitimate source of authority in Nigeria and it does not recognize the authority of the Nigerian government, and views its leaders, both Muslims and Christians, as corrupt and ungodly….
“Sheikh El-Zakzaky enjoys the support of Iran in all the activities of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria…. The main aim of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria is to propagate the ideology of Iran and turn the country (Nigeria) into an Islamic State as was done in the Iranian Revolution of 1979.”
