The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), said on Friday that the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and his wife, Zeenat, were not released because they were being prosecuted by a state government.
He said this in a statement by his spokesman, Dr. Umar Gwandu, who quoted him as speaking to the BBC Hausa and the Hausa Service of the Voice of America. Explaining why El-Zakzaky and his wife were not released like Dasuki and Sowore, Malami said, “The Federal Government does not interfere with the cases that are being prosecuted by a state government. “El-Zakzaky and his wife are being prosecuted by the Kaduna State government on charges of murder.”
He, however, said that the release of the Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, and a former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, from detention by the Federal Government was based on compassionate grounds.
