The leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, has denied the Federal Government’s claim that he was was with N3.5 million monthly while in jail.
El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, spent about five years in detention since December 2015 for allegedly attempting to assassinate the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Butatai (rtd) in Zaria, Kaduna State.
Recall that in November 2018, Minister of information, Lai Mohammed, claimed that the government spent about N3.5 million on a monthly basis to feed the Shiite leader.
Mohammed was quoted by The Guardian as saying that “The issue of whether, where he (El-Zakzaky) is, at least, let’s keep it off record, that he is in a residence and you know eating. It costs the government about N3.5 million every month to feed him.”
The minister further defended the figure he announced, saying “Honestly, don’t quote me, but these are the facts.”
El-Zakzaky who was freed of all charges levelled against them by the Kaduna State Government on July 28 has since debunked the government’s claim.
According to the Shiite leader, he and his wife never received any money from the Federal Government during their five-year detention, stating that they fed themselves.
He noted that he was not at liberty to talk about it then because the means with which they fed themselves were illegal, according to DailyPost.
He said, “Throughout our stay in Abuja, we were feeding ourselves, but we could not say because we were feeding ourselves illegally. Legally, they were supposed to feed us but they didn’t want anybody to hear that we were feeding ourselves.
“All through the five years and seven months we were in detention, we were feeding ourselves, nobody gave us a bottle of water.”
