Presidency Speaks On El-Zakzaky’s Release
The Presidency has again justified its decision to keep Shiite leader, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky in custody despite the court order to release him.
Mr. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, said on Tuesday that so far, the government has refused to obey Justice Gabriel Kolawole’s order on the release of El-Zakzakky because it appealed the ruling.
Adesina said this on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
He added that the government had the right to appeal the bail order and the then Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), did just that.
He said, “I know that the immediate past AGF in whose purview it was to make pronouncements on that, address the issue. If bail is granted and another case subsists and there is an immediate filing of appeal, you have to wait till it is dispensed with. So, that is a legal matter which is outside my purview but as a layman, an unlearned man as lawyers would call us, we know that until all cases are dispensed with, you don’t say that it has been concluded.”
Naija News recalls recently, the presidency also advised the Shiite group to allow the court to decide the matter rather than take up arms and destroy public properties.
Speaking on the allegations that the police fired live bullets on the Shiite protesters on Monday, Adesina argued, “I tell you despite what happened yesterday, if the police had responded with greater force, you know we would not be talking about what we are talking now.
“A deputy commissioner of police was killed. Yes, very sad, that is one life just like any other life. He did not deserve to die in service to the country but if the police had responded in similar fashion, you would have been talking of rivers of blood in Abuja now.
“I still believe there was some restraint yesterday despite what happened and personally I still commend the police for showing that restraint.”
The protest by the Shiites on Monday resulted in the death of a Deputy Commissioner of Police, a journalist, as well as the burning down of several properties.
source https://www.naijanews.com/2019/07/23/shiites-why-we-have-not-obeyed-court-order-on-el-zakzakys-release-presidency/
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