Nigerian protesters demand release of IMN leader Zakzaky

Hundreds of supporters and members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) have staged a peaceful rally in the country’s capital of Abuja and called for the release of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky.

The participants in the Friday protest chanted slogans against Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and demanded justice for the prominent Muslim cleric.

Despite the ruling of a Federal High Court, which ordered his unconditional release in 2016, the Nigerian government has refused to set him free.

The top cleric lost his left eyesight in a raid which was carried out by the Nigerian army on his residence in the northern town of Zaria in December 2015.

During the raid, Zakzaky’s wife sustained serious wounds too and more than 300 of his followers and three of his sons were killed. Zakzaky, his wife, and a large number of the cleric’s followers have since been in custody.

The 65-year-old cleric has been charged with inciting public disturbances, something his movement vehemently denies.