The National Democratic Front (NDF) has warned Iranian Government against sponsoring terrorism in Nigeria and interfering in the affairs of the country as a sovereign nation.
The group was reacting to the recent call by Iranian government for the release of leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim El-Zakzakky for treatment in the middle east.
Recall that NDF had earlier raised raise the alarm that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the orgy of violence and killing in Nigeria by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) have now been proven.
Addressing newsmen on Friday on the development, NDF warned Iran to steer clear Nigerian territory.
Bolaji Abdulakdir, Secretary General of the group, said the offer to relocate El-Zakzaky to the custody of Iran is meant to be a soft-landing that will allow him evade justice.
He warned security agencies to be vigilant following this offer of a poisoned chalice.
Full text of his speech below.
In the past, Iran’s response to these assertions that it was sponsoring IMN terrorists consisted mostly of remaining silent. But the pressure that has been piled on Iran has forced it to expose itself as the larger chunk of the problem by being a state sponsor of terrorism.
Iran has also become frustrated that weeks of violent protest and the assassination of law enforcement officers have not derailed the due process that is in place for the trial of IMN leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, who is before a court in Kaduna on charges of murder, treason and other crimes.
This frustration has forced Iran to confirm itself as IMN’s sponsor with a letter written by its prosecutor-general, Mohammed Montazeri, asking for El-Zakzaky to be transferred into his country’s custody. It is curious that Iran’s offer came up only after IMN members crossed the line by attacking the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and assassinated a Deputy Commissioner of Police, executed a journalist and killed scores of other Nigerians.
The offer to relocate El-Zakzaky to the custody of Iran is meant to be a soft-landing that will allow him evade justice and his followers avoid the repercussions of the terrorist crimes they have committed on the streets of Nigeria. It is curious that Iran could not reference any extant instrument between it and Nigeria that makes its proposed transfer legally acceptable to Nigeria.
We see in this request a further Iranian plot to aggravate the violent street protests knowing that it is not possible for Nigeria to hand over an accused person who is on trial when there is no existing bilateral agreement that covers such.
At the risk of sounding insensitive, we think Iran should have first made this offer several years ago when it first became apparent that El-Zakzaky might have disconnected from reality by refusing to recognize the Nigerian state. Had Iran provided him with treatment for mental health at the time he needed it perhaps there would have been no basis for them to be making the intervention they are now making. Iran can however extend this Trojan horse offer to the thousands of brainwashed and radicalized IMN members in the hope of rehabilitating them in addition to addressing the manic disposition that makes them prone to killing others.
We urge the Federal Government to summon the Iranian Ambassador to Nigeria and express our country’s reservations at the misplaced request. The transfer request, beyond demonstrating the country’s crass ignorance of Nigeria’s Federal and judicial systems, also exposes the rudeness of Iran in thinking itself as a colonial power that can dictate to Nigeria under the pretext of mediating.
We therefore call on the Nigerian authorities to severe all relationship with Iran until that country learns to treat our country as a sovereign nation.
It is our humble opinion that security agencies should be vigilant following this offer of a poisoned chalice. Iran will weaponize this offer into propaganda and attempt to further use it to increase the violent protests it is financing for IMN members to carry out in order to terrorize Nigerians. The situation calls for our dear country to approach the United Nations for the purpose of getting key Stakeholders to hold this Islamic Republic to account.
NDF warn the Government of the Islamic Republic Iran which is allegedly sponsoring the IMN terror in our country to respect the sovereignty of our country and stop dabbling into our internal affairs. The Iranian interference must stop without any further waste of time.
In addition to whatever the Federal Government of Nigeria decides to do as a response to this insults from Iran, NDF is working on measures that will put that country in its place and teach it not to interfere with other countries.
Let us use this opportunity to warn IMN extremists that their time is up. They should leave Abuja and sneak back to whatever radicalization camps they came from. We have had enough of their terror on our streets.
