Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, the detained leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has given out foodstuffs worth millions of Naira to mark the commencement of Holy Ramadan.
The donations were made on behalf of El-Zakzaky by his brother, Sheikh Badamasi Ya’qoub.
The food items include bags of sugar, rice, wheat, and sorghum.
The Free El-Zakzaky campaign committee had in statement said, the detained cleric instructed the distribution of the items last week when a section of his family members were allowed a rare visit along with the foreign medical experts that came in to assess his health situation.
The statement noted that, “It has been Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky’s practice to share food items to the poor and the needy and that has continued even after the Buhari-led government killed over a thousand of his supporters including his sons and hurled him and the wife in illegal detention having grievously wounded them and refused to comply with the judgement of the Federal High Court that declared their detention as a breach of their fundamental rights.”
It added that the cleric sends his best wishes to Muslims all over the world and assures them of his prayers throughout the Islamic fasting season.
The arrival of the food was greeted with a cheer by the residents which added credence to the fact that they appreciated the gesture. Visible even in the face of the current economic hardship in the country, especially during this holy month of Ramadan. However, the distribution of the Foodstuff continued the next day.
This gesture for distributing food items at the inception of Ramadan by the Sheikh has done for the past 20 years and more with the number of recipients rising annually due to persistent rising economic difficulties in the country.
On an earlier occasion, the thugs attacked the residence of the Sheikh’s sister, Hajiya Maimuna Yakubu along Sarkin Yaki Street where they threatened and beat her, trespass the house and brought out all her food items and litter the street with them as well.
It would be recalled that the same thugs were used by the soldiers to scavenge heap of corpses of Islamic movement members killed by soldiers during the December attack where they stole personal possessions from the dead bodies.
Malam Abdullahi an Islamic teacher with students was one of the recipients attacked by the thugs who insulted and threaten to describe him as a hypocrite for collecting food items from Sheikh Zakzaky. Malam Umar residing along Sarkin Yaki Street suffered the same fate with Mallam Abdullahi as the thugs seized the food items and litter the road with them. With recipients getting between two to four bags each depending on the numbers of their family members, those that are yet to receive the items are still calling on the committee to give them and if they could not come they should tell them where to go and receive their own.
Meanwhile, distribution of food items to the needy has continued for next few days in a row and more people are begging to receive the food assistance to alleviate the difficulties in these hard times.
On the last note, the distribution of the foodstuffs for fasting in the month of Ramadan in 2017, 2018 and this year 2019 is hitch-free. No reports of attacks or disruption of the foodstuffs by the thugs. Maybe it happened due to the economic situation in the country or the gullible minds are tired of being deceived by the government or their stooge.
