Lawmakers at the House of Representatives has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to release El-Zakzaky, the detained leader of Shiite Islamic group.

Mr El-Zakzaky has been in detention since members of his Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) clashed with personnel of the Nigerian Army in 2015.

The bloody clash led to the arrest of the cleric alongside his spouse. They were arraigned and granted bail by different competent courts but the federal government has refused to obey the decision of the judiciary citing national security as its reason.

Members of the group which have severally protested and demanded the release of their leader stormed the national assembly in protest on Tuesday and clashed with security operatives at the legislative arm of government.

It later turned bloody with members of the islamic group gunning down policemen attached to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) while attempting to gain entrance into the lawmaking arm.

During plenary on Wednesday, several lawmakers urged the federal government headed by Mr Buhari to release the detained leader of the group and prevent the formation of another terrorist group in the country.

“If the court has given an order for the release of the man, we should call on the government to release him. The discourse should not be on the invasion of the national assembly alone,” Onofiok Luke from Akwa Ibom State said while contributing to the motion raised by the minority leader, Ndudi Elumelu, calling for the probe of the Tuesday incident.

“I want to urge the federal government to look into the matter of the leader of this movement and allow the rule of law to take its course, to ensure that Boko Haram is not replicated in Shiites movement,” Bamidele Salam, from Osun State who described the detention of the cleric as injustice, said.

“The government should release him and ensure surveillance, with enough security operatives to monitor his activities,” Simon Davou from Plateau state added.

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