As negotiation to free the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (Shiites) continues, the federal government has obtained a court order outlawing the movement.
Justice Nkeonye Maha of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ordered the proscription on Friday following an ex parte application by the federal government in the name of the attorney-general of the federation.
She also designated the activities of the organisation in any part of Nigeria “as acts of terrorism and illegality”, restraining “any person or group of persons” from participating in any form of activities involving or concerning the IMN “under any name or platform” in Nigeria.
The court then ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation “to publish the order proscribing the respondent (Islamic Movement in Nigeria) in the official gazette and two national dailies.”
Justice Maha granted the four prayers contained in the application shortly after the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr Dayo Apata, argued the application on Friday.
The IMN was not represented by a lawyer on Friday.
In the ruling, there was “a declaration that the activities of the respondent (Islamic Movement in Nigeria) in any part of Nigeria amounts to acts of terrorism and illegality.”
“An order restraining any person or group of persons from participating in any manner whatsoever in any form of activities involving or concerning the prosecution of the collective intention or otherwise of the respondent (Islamic Movement in Nigeria) under any other name or platform howsoever called or described in any part of Nigeria,” the justice ruled.
“An order directing the applicant (the AGF) to publish the order proscribing the respondent (Islamic Movement in Nigeria) in the official gazette and two national dailies.”
The Federal Government had filed the application before the court after a protest by members of the group in Abuja led to a fatal clash in which a journalist and a police deputy commissioner died.
The movement’s spokesman Ibrahim Musa has however protested the court ruling, insisting the IMN is a sect of Islamic religion, and nobody can force them to forsake their religion.