Again, Zakzaky, Shia leader’s bail hearing postponed

Again, Zakzaky, Shia leader’s bail hearing postponed

Again, Zakzaky, Shia leader’s bail hearing postponed

Residents of Kaduna State, North-Central Nigeria waited for today with abated breath when the bail application for the Shia leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, would have taken place. But the hearing has been postponed for the second time in a fortnight.

It was meant to be on Monday but the High Court in Kaduna, northern Nigeria, will now hear the bail application on 5 August.

Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, has been sitting on the edge for about two weeks now when the Nigerian Shia group Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) resumed protest, demanding for the release of their leader.

Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky has been detained since 2015, in the aftermath of clashes between his followers and the army, and charged with culpable homicide, murder, unlawful assembly and disruption of the peace.

The first time he was seen in court after his arrest was in May 2018. He was not at the court on Monday either. His lawyer cited health reasons.

Sheikh Zakzaky’s followers have been protesting regularly since he was arrested. Those protests turned deadly recently and a police officer and a journalist have been killed.

Security had been beefed up in the state capital ahead of the hearing.