Iran says it is using all diplomatic channels to
pursue the release of a prominent Shia Muslim
cleric Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky who was
arrested by the Nigerian Army last month.
''We have used all those channels to warn
them [Nigeria] regarding this issue. So hopefully
the government… would adopt wise action given
the sensitive situation.'' Foreign Ministry
Spokesman Hoseyn Jaberi-Ansari told reporters
in the capital, Tehran.
Sheikh al-Zakzaky after members of his Islamic
Movement of Nigeria (IMN) clashed with the
army in the northern city of Zaria.
Campaign group Human Rights Watch said at
least 300 IMN members were killed and quickly
buried in a mass graves during the incident. The
Nigerian military denied the claim.
The military accuses the pro-Iranian sect of
trying to assassinate army chief Gen Tukur
Buratai, which it denies.
Iran is currently embroiled in a diplomatic row
with Saudi Arabia over the execution of a
prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
Shia in Nigeria
▪ Shia are minority in Nigeria but their numbers
are increasing
▪ The IMN, formed in the 1980s, is the main
Shia group led by Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky
▪ They operate their own schools and hospitals
in some northern states
▪ They have a history of clashes with the
security forces
▪ The IMN is backed by Shia-dominated Iran
and its members often go there to study
▪ Sunni jihadist group Boko Haram condemns
Shias as heretics who should be killed.
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