According to IMN, the movie titled “Fatal Arrogance” was sponsored by the “Nigerian Army to cover up the alleged December 2015 massacre of Shiites by soldiers where 348 people were allegedly killed.”

The IMN says Pete Edochie allowed himself ‘to be used’ and should stop wailing as he wasn’t threatened. The group blasted the actor for his portrayal of Shiites in the soon to be released movie.

The statement read “The petition written by the IMN to the Inspector General of Police and the Film’s Censors Board doesn’t threaten anyone’s life. Issuing of threats has never been in our character. Pete Edochie should be honourable enough to accept that he allowed himself to be used to further vilify victims of one of the worst state-sponsored massacres of its citizens. He could still redeem his name as other actors in the ill-fated film are doing. If Edochie has any character as he claims, he would not have accepted to act any role in a film that seems to change the narrative and distort history based on a book distorting facts! If he had any integrity, he would not have accepted to appear in a movie tarnishing the image of an oppressed personality like Sheikh Zakzaky and still think he did nothing wrong because the Sheikh was not mentioned by name. Any serious artist worth the name must, first of all, undertake some kind of serious research to get the facts of any script brought to him right. Had he been bold enough to cross-check, he would have realized that genocide took place in Zaria in 2015 where over a thousand Nigerian lives were wasted by the sponsors of the film. He would have come across the very many attempts by the perpetrators to hide these heinous crimes, firstly by the burial of their victims in mass graves, an internationally recognized crime… He would have realized the matter is currently a subject of investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The script before him is a continuation of that desperate attempt to distort facts.”

It said the government was deliberately frustrating its legal team led by Femi Falana, SAN and Maxwell Kyon, who have so far successfully defended and won all the cases against the government.

In a statement on Wednesday, Ocotber 16th signed by Ibrahim Musa, its President, Media Forum, the IMN said “Today, exactly a week ago the Kaduna State High Court presided by Justice Nyoms discharged and acquitted 9 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria arrested precisely three years ago while on their way to attend the Islamic religious rite of Ashura mourning in Kaduna. All the nine, including two women, stood trial in the Kaduna State High Court since September 2016. They were accused of being members of the Islamic Movement, unlawful assembly and intent to disturb the public among others. In his judgment, Justice Nyoms said the prosecution didn’t prove any of the charges against any of those standing trial. This recent favourable judgement adds to the number of landmark cases in which the government has failed to convict any member of the Islamic Movement for any crime in various courts across the country since the Zaria massacre of December 2015. So far, hundreds of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria have been discharged and acquitted for alleged crimes including that of culpable homicide among others after proper trials in courts. Since the persecution of the members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria led by Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky (H) commenced, the High Courts in Kaduna and Sokoto, as well as the Court of Appeal, have discharged and acquitted 309 members of the Islamic Movement and dismissed the frivolous charges brought against them. On 2nd July of 2015 the Sokoto Judicial Division Court of Appeal has discharged and acquitted 112 members of the Islamic Movement of any offence. On Tuesday 30/07/2018 Justice David Shiri Wyom at the Kaduna State High Court cleared over 80 Shiite supporters of the Islamic Movement of criminal charges linked to a violent protest in 2015. He ruled in favour of the defence’s no-case submission, saying that the state did not present enough evidence to go ahead with proceedings. This explains why the government has resorted to employing delay tactics in the prosecution of the remaining cases left in court including the one trying the leader of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky through deliberate attempts at frustrating the legal team of the Islamic Movement, led by Mr. Femi Falana, SAN and Mr. Maxwell Kyon, who have so far successfully defended and won all the cases against the government. We, therefore, call on the federal and state governments to withdraw the unfounded charges against our leader Sheikh Zakzaky (H) and others standing trial. They are toying with the lives of innocent citizens, which is an aberration in any democratic polity.”

This is coming few weeks after the Shi’ite, as they are popularly called, were proscribed by the Nigerian government.

The Islamic group were blamed for the killing of the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Federal Capital Territory Police Command, Umar Usman, and a youth corps member, Precious Owolabi, in the signal to the operatives dated August 30, 2019.

A top IMN source who confirmed the planned trip also revealed that El-Zakzaky’s family members and close associates have been stopped from visiting by DSS operatives who reportedly seized phones belonging to the Islamic leader and his wife.

The source said: “You know that El-Zakzaky and his wife were immediately taken to Kaduna facility of the DSS immediately they arrived in the country from their medical trip. They collected their phones. Now his people want to visit him, but the security operatives are preventing them from visiting. Till now, nobody is allowed to visit him. And immediately he and the wife left for India, the security operatives moved some of his personal properties from his home in Kaduna. I learnt they are planning to take him out for another medical trip. But the day is not made known yet.”

Ibrahim Musa, president Media Forum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria said the lie was fabricated to cover government’s “own gross misconduct in a foreign land”.

Read IMN’s full statement below…

Sequel to the Nigerian government’s sinister operation that frustrated the treatment of the revered Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife Malam Zeenat Ibrahim in India that led to the repatriation of the couple, the Nigerian government, in its effort to deceive the general public, has concocted contradictory statements and lies to colour its acts of violating the order given by the Kaduna High court allowing the Sheikh to seek treatment in India, with the government only supervising.

The facts are that the government mischievously went beyond its role of supervision to the level of maliciously interfering in the medical process, instructing on which doctors the Sheikh and his wife must see, while refusing to allow them access to their own doctors. Apparently, the government had a hidden mission, the details of which they had detailed specific doctors to execute.

The Sheikh was forced to either accept their choice or return home within two hours. Being mindful of the government’s various previous plots to eliminate him since 2015, first through the barrels of the gun and much later through poisoning in detention while refusing him access to adequate medical care until the court’s intervention, the Sheikh sensed the government’s intention of inducing killer doctors to finish what they had earlier started, now through the back door.

He therefore insisted on having the presence of the doctors that initially assessed him in Nigeria, who also worked in that hospital, failing which, he preferred to return to Nigeria. He refused to be subjected to any breach in the basic ethical principles guiding the medical treatment of people of respect for persons: protecting the autonomy of all people and treating them with courtesy and respect and allowing for informed consent, which the Nigerian government had contracted medical personnel in the Indian hospital to throw to the wind.

Before efforts at resolving this impasse could be concluded, the Sheikh was brought back to Nigeria, since their evil schemes could not be executed. The government is now churning out contradictory explanations to blame the Sheikh for not allowing himself to be killed in the name of medical treatment. The Nigerian government is also blackmailing the Sheikh that he sought for asylum in India just to cover their own gross misconduct in a foreign land.

The campaign of calumny has been championed by the Federal Ministry of Information, which sarcastically even said they were apologising to India for the Sheikh’s “unruly behaviour” rather than for their own obvious attempted assassination of somebody in another country! Isn’t it rather contradictory that someone allegedly seeking asylum would be unwilling to stay back irrespective of the circumstances but preferring instead to return to his home country.

It is on record that it was the Sheikh who requested to be brought back home having been denied access to his doctors and rejecting the killer squad engaged to “treat” him instead. The government’s claim that Sheikh’s wife antagonized the Nigerian officials by accusing them of killing her three children is yet another spurious search for justification for its maltreatment of the couple. Isn’t it true that it is the government that killed her three sons when its army invaded their residence at night in December 2015?

Wasn’t her husband dragged over the corpses of their murdered children having been shot himself and left swimming in his own pool of blood? Wasn’t she also shot and left lying lifeless in the process? Were they expecting a cheer from her for all these severe gross violation of their fundamental rights, even as judged by a competent federal court? It is rather very shameful and a slap in the face of Nigeria that the government which hitherto claimed it had no hand in the case, now has to resort to lies, calumny and blackmail against a couple whose alleged crimes has never ever been proved in any court of the land.

All the allegations against this couple have always been merely spurious and unproven, and knowing that they could never prove in any court use the might of state power to intimidate and misinform the public. It is noteworthy to state that the government is yet to respond to the confessions by the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince that they sponsored the Zaria genocide and the subsequent continued detention of the Sheikh in Nigeria.

This same fact was earlier alluded to by President Muhammadu Buhari during a state visit to Qatar. The world is watching all the persecution of the Islamic leader with keen interest. The government can never change the narrative.

We wish to thank the general public for their continued understanding and show of support in all these. No amount of feeding the public with concocted half-truths, lies and campaigns of calumny would swerve the course of justice for all the victims of Zaria genocide and its aftermath”.

According to Fars News, an Iranian news agency, a total number of one hundred and eighty six doctors wrote to the president pointing to the physical condition of the leader Islamic Movement of Nigeria

Fars News quoted one of the signatories to the letter, Dr. Pourrahim Najafabadi, as saying that Zakzaky needs to be cured by an experienced medical team of physicians in a specialized multi-specialty hospital outside Nigeria.

Below is the full text of the letter:

“In the name of God, The healer

From the community of Doctors

To the President of the Republic of Nigeria, Mr. Buhari.

In the past several months, the world has constantly received troubling news regarding the health of one of the prominent figures in Nigeria, Shaikh Ibrahim Zakzaky. Both Skaikh Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife are kept in prison and the health status of both of them is very alarming.

We have chosen to be doctors even after knowing that this job is very difficult and troublesome, but we chose to save people’s lives and preferred the health of the society over our personal interests.

According to the medical reports regarding the health status of Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky:

1. He is suffering from a total blindness in the left eye, and is also suffering from vision problems in the right eye including glaucoma and progressive macular atrophy. According to the diagnosis of the visiting physicians, Shaikh Zakzaky will lose his vision sooner or later if the current circumstances do not change.

2. He has shown symptoms of Ischemic heart disease which can lead to Myocardial Infraction.

3. He is also suffering from severe cervical spondylosis which has resulted to nerve root compression and symptoms are progressive causing insomnia.

4. The experiments show that he has heavy metal toxicity including Lead and Cadmium. Laboratory tests that are performed on May 31st, 2019 show that blood lead level is 171.94µg/dl. Later on June 18th, 2019 this level was reported to be 231.48µg while in the last laboratory test the blood lead level was three times more than the toxicity level (grade 5 of poisoning).

Based on the points highlighted above, Shaikh Ibrahim Zakzaky should be transferred to a well- equipped medical center that has Neuro-ophthalmologist, glaucoma specialist and low vision expert, cardiologist, orthopedist and neurologist. Also he may need to have a surgery to reduce intraocular pressure.

We, doctors of different nationalities cannot take the health of any human for granted. This is something that is inherent in our obligation as doctors. Ignoring the critical health status of Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky can end up in irreparable consequences.

We request the government and parliament of Nigeria to immediately transfer him to a well-equipped hospital to prevent any unfortunate incidents.

A group of doctors from Pakistan, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq

Dr Abbas alahmad, Pediatrician, Syria

Dr Abd alkrim Hariri, Neurosurgeon, Syria

Dr Abd almonaam hsanato, Radiologist, Syria

Dr Abdo salami, Dentist, Syria

Dr Addel maheiri, Maxillofacial Specialist, Syria

Dr Ahmad alrahal, Otorhinolaryngologist, Syria

Dr Ahmaad alzien, Thoracic Internist, Syria

Dr Ahmad nasrullah, Dentist, Syria

Dr Ajmal Farooq, General practitioner, India

Dr Alla Aldrin Hassan, Neurosurgeon, Syria

Dr Allaa allnassan, General Surgeon

Dr Amar kiali, Ophtalmologist, Syria

Dr Anas hellali, General Surgeon, Syria

Dr Asma Khalid, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Bakri dablloni, Orthopedic Surgeon, Syria

Dr Bassel alshaher, Dentist, Syria

Dr Bsam kedeh, Gastroenterologist, Syria

Dr Fadi alaar, Vascular Surgeon, Syria

Dr Farhat, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Fizza Batool Zaidi, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Furqan Ali khan, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Hania Batool Zaidi, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Hassam Saleem, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Hassan alkhatib, Vascular Surgeon, Syria

Dr Hassan Khalil, Internist, Syria

Dr Houda abdalhadi, Internist, Syria

Dr Ibrahim hadid, Urologist, Syria

Dr Idrak Hussain Bhat, General practitioner, India

Dr Iftikar Hussain, General practitioner, India

Dr Kashaf Zehra Durrani, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Mamdoh zitoni, Orthopedic Surgeon, Syria

Dr Manaaf sharbjii, Orthopedic Surgeon, Syria

Dr Mhmmod Nasser, Gastroenterologist, Syria

Dr Mirza Arsalan, General practitioner, India

D.Mohamad mohiedin, Pediatrician, Syria

Dr Mohanad battal, Pediatric Surgeon, Syria

Dr mohanad naasan, General Surgeon, Syria

Dr Mohanad zanoube, Ophtalmologist, Syria

Dr Mohd Yaseen Mir, General practitioner, India

Dr Motaz alhmod, General Surgeon, Syria

Dr Muhammad Ajmal Hussain, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Muhammad Ali Kazmi, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Muhammad ali raseed, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Muhammad Amjad Hussain, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Muhammad Baqir, 4 year resident internal medicine, Pakistan

Dr Mouhamad batikh, General Surgeon, Syria

Dr Muhammad Farhan, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Myllad zahlloq, Vascular Surgeon, Syria

Dr Ossama attar, General Surgeon, Syria

Dr Owais Raza General practioner (MBBS), Pakistan

Dr Owais Siddique, General practitioner, India

Dr Raja Munawa, General practitioner, India

Dr Saman Fatima, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Samer alhames, Thoracic Surgeon, Syria

Dr Samer sharbo, Vascular Surgeon, Syria

Dr Sami bitar, Nephrologist, Syria

Dr Saqib Hussain, General practitioner, India

Dr Sharaf ud deen, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Showkat Hussain Dar, General practitioner, India

Dr Shyar mostafa, Neurosurgeon, Syria

Dr Suhail Ahmad Mir, General practitioner, India

Dr Syed ali kuamil, General practitioner Pakistan

Dr Syed Muntazir Mousavi, General practitioner, India

Dr Syed Wafadar Hussain Naqvi, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Syeada Maimoona Batool Rizvi, General practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Taher farfotli, Neurologist, Syria

Dr Tahssin hmidi, General Surgeon, Syria

Dr Waael akari, General Surgeon, Syria

Dr wisaam dieb, General Surgeon, Syria

Dr Yamen yousuf, Neurosurgeon, Syria

Dr Yassin alrahal, Orthopedic Surgeon, Syria

Dr Yousef sabsabi, Orthopedic Surgeon, Syria

Dr Zaher and allaziz, Vascular Surgeon, Syria

Dr Zaher batal, Nutritionist, Syria

Dr Zaid Jeelani, General practitioner, India

Dr Zeeshan Hadier, Liver transplant surgeon, Pakistan

Dr Arezoo Mohtasham, Radiology Resident, Iran

Dr Azadeh Hashemi, Radiology Resident, Afghanistan

Dr Abolfazl Mohammadi, Orthopedic Surgeon, Iran

Dr Amanollah Karami, Ophtalmologist, Iran

Dr Amir Rahmanian, Emergency Medicine Resident, Iran

Dr Amirhossein Izadyar, General PractitionePractitioner, Iran

Dr Aniseh Aliabadi, Dermatology Resident, Iran

Dr Hamed Abdi, Internist, Iran

Dr Hojjat Madarshahi, otorhinolaryngologist, Iran

Dr Hasan Boskabadi, Pediatrician and Neonatal Specialist, Iran

Dr Hasan Rajabi, Iran

Dr Hasan Sezavar, Iran

Dr Hossein Amirzargir, Urolohist, Iran

Dr Hossein Mohaddes Ardebili, Psychiatric Resident, Iran

Dr Hamidreza Safaei, Radiology Resident, Iran

Dr Hourieh Soleimani, Radiology Resident, Iran

Dr Rahil Daghmagh, General Practitioner, Lebanon

Dr Rose sadat Shamsa, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Reyhaneh Aminorroaya, Elderly Medicine Specialist, Iran

Dr Zahra Behnam Rasouli, Obstetrics and Gynecology Resident, Iran

Dr Zahra Jafar, General Practitioner, Lebanon

Dr Zahra Joshaghani, Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist, Iran

Dr Zahra Khalili Matinzadeh, Pediatrician, Iran

Dr Zahra Movahedinia, General practitioner, Iran

Dr Zahra Moaddab Shoar, Dentist, Iran

Dr Zeinab Babasafari, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Sajedeh Mousavi, Physical Medicine Resident, Iran

Dr Saiedeh Khatami, Dentist, Iran

DT Soleiman Heidari, Toracic Surgeon, Iran

Dr Samaneh Rahmani, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Seyed Javad Hosseininezhad, Neurologist, Iran

Dr Syed Zaker Hossein Naqvi, General Practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Syed Omran Hyder Zeidi, General Practitioner, Pakistan

Dr Seyed Mohammadreza Parizadeh, Biochemistry Ph.D, Iran

Dr Seyed Mohammadsadegh Mirzaei, general Practitioner, Iran

Dr Seyed Moadkazem Mozaffari, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Seyed Naser Emadi, International Dermatologist, Iran

Dr Seyedeh Afsar Sharafi, Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist, Iran

Dr Seyedeh Zeinab Hashemi Javaheri, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Saeb Aliabadi, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Seddigheh Ayati, Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist, Iran

Dr Tahereh Labbaf, Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist, Iran

Dr Arefeh Edalatian, Obstetrics and Gynecology Resident, Iran

Dr Atefeh Kermanshahi, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Abbas Shojaei, Otorhinolaryngologist, Iran

Dr Azra Rashidnezhad, Neurology Resident, Iran

Dr Afraalshahrstani, Pediatric Resident, Iraq

Dr Atieh Mohebbi, Radiology Resident, Iran

Dr Atieh Mohammadzadeh Vatanchi, Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist, Iran

Dr Ali Ebrahimzadeh, Iran

Dr Ali Anjomshoa, Anesthesiologist, Iran

Dr Ali Taghiparvar, Epidemiologist, Iran

Dr Ali Rezazadeh, Internist, Iran

Dr Ali Fazli, Anesthesiologist, Iran

Dr Ali Madarshahi, Internal Surgeon, Iran

Dr Fatemeh Ouchi Ardebili, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Fatemeh Taghizadeh, Physical Medicine Resident, Iran

Dr Fatemeh Joshaghani, Dentist, Iran

Dr Fatemeh Dadelahi, Radiology Resident, Iran

Dr Fatemeh Mehrparvar, Dentist, Iran

Dr Fouzieh Takhari, Obstetrics and Gynecology Resident, Afghanistan

Dr Ghasem Amini, Surgery Resident, Iran

Dr Kamal Heydari, Dentist, Iran

Dr Leila Moaddab Shoar, Radiotherapy and Oncology Specialist, Iran

Dr Majid Habibzadeh Moghaddam, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Majid Abdollahi, Emergency Medicine Specialist, Iran

Dr Majid Ghayour Mobarhen, Nutritionist, Iran

Dr Mohammad Ebrahimi, Iran

Dr Mohammad Sajjadi, Psychiatrist, Iran

Dr Mohammad Sadeghi, Iran

Dr Mohammadtaghi Rajabi Mashhadi, Surgeon, Iran

Dr MohammadJafar Modabber Azizi, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Mohammadreza Behrouz, Iran

Dr Mohammadreza Javdani, Family Medicine Resident, Iran

Dr Mohammadali Kiani, Gastroenterologist, Iran

Dr Mahmoud Jozhaghani, Cornea Specialist, Iran

Dr Mahmoud Fatemi, Radiology Resident, Iran

Dr Mahya Yargholi, Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist, Iran

Dr Morteza Amiri Soleimani, Orthopedic Surgeon, Iran

Dr Morteza Tajaddodi, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Maryam Sadat Paknezhad, Iranian Traditional Medicine Specialist, Iran

Dr Maryam Rezaeian, Dentist, Afghanistan

Dr Maryam Yargholi, Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist, Iran

Dr Mozhgan Mahmoudian, Radiology Resident, Iran

Dr Masoud Maleki, Dermatologist, Iran

Dr Masoud Mahdavi, Radiologist, Iran

Dr Mostafa Jafari, Internist, Iran

Dr Malihe Akbari, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Malihe Hatefipour, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Mahdi Oughli, Internist, Iran

Dr Mahdi Mokhtari, Ophtalmologist, Iran

Dr Mahdieh Pouryazdanpanah, Nutritionist, Iran

Dr Mahdi Miri, Internist, Iran

Dr Mahsa Kia, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Milad Hadadi, Dentist, Iran

Dr Najmeh Khodadadi, Iran

Dr Najmeh Zamani, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Narjes Khatoun Movahedi Rad, General Practitioner, Iran

De Narges Salehi, Cardiologist, Iran

Dr Narges Arabzadeh, Internist, Iran

Dr Nasrollah Hamraz, Internist, Afghanistan

Dr Nafiseh Kazemi Rad, Radiology Resident, Iran

Dr Nafiseh Aliabadi, Pediatric Resident, Iran

Dr Nayerreh Khadem Ghayebi, Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist, Iran

Dr Hadi Hasanzadeh, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Hadi Sherouni, Otorhinolaryngologist, Iran

Dr Hadi Jalali, General Practitioner, Iran

Dr Rezaei, Interventional Cardiologist, Afghanistan”

This incident which is also said to have taken the life of a senior police officer, DCP Umar, who was in charge of Operations at the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, took place at
the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs following reports that members of the IMN who belong to the Shiite sect were planning to burn down the ministry.

Umar was reportedly gunned down as he tried to pacify the rampaging Shi’ite members who disrupted commercial activities and vehicular movement during their protest at the Federal Secretariat. He was immediately taken to an undisclosed hospital where he gave up the ghost.

It was learnt that a vehicle was burnt down during the clash while several gunshots were fired during the clash which occurred between 12pm and 1.30pm.

The members of the IMN have been protesting against the continued detention of their leader Sheikh Ibraheem el- Zakzakky.

The Shiites unleashed terror on other security operatives when tear- gas canisters were fired to disperse them. It was reported that the dreaded Shiite members overpowered the policemen at the gate, collected one of their guns and shot the two security operatives.

They entered the main entrance and vandalised the gatehouse, they also burnt three vehicles and destroyed many others.

The gates to all the National Assembly premises have been closed as staff and other accredited persons ran for dear lives.