El-Zakzaky: Shiite faction declares loyalty to Nigerian govt

A Shiite faction, Rasulul A’azam Foundation, RAAF, has declared loyalty to the Nigerian government despite travail of Ibrahim Al-Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN.

Sale Zaria, its Secretary General, spoke at a press conference after this year’s annual birthday celebration of Imam El-Mahdi, held at Ungoggo Local Government Area of Kano State.
According to him, the RAAF believes in peaceful, economically viable, independent, sovereign and united Nigeria.

Zaria advised Muslims and Nigerians at large to desist from any action capable of causing tribal or religious division.
He called on adherents of various religions in the country to avoid all sorts of extremism and live peacefully with one another, as taught by Apostles of God.
“People should know that there are 9 factions within the Shi’ah sect. Each sect has its own tenets. For instance, we are not part of Al-Zakzaki movement”, Daily Nigerian quoted him as saying.

“We differ in several fronts. He runs a movement which is fighting with the government.
“Our faction goes contrary. We believe in government and respect constituted authorities. We believe in unity and supremacy of the constitution.
“We are registered, as we attained our registration in 2005. We participate in politics and ready to contribute our quota in nation-building.
“We believe in security apparatus that is why whenever we have a function, we have to notify security agencies.
“Therefore, we call on religious and tribal groups to desist from any action that could cause violence in this country.
“These crises are a time bomb, so we should do everything possible to prevent the bomb from exploding,” he said.