Hawzah News Agency - (Abuja - Nigeria) - Sheikh Zakzaky supporters in south West Nigeria and members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria held a press conference and asked the Nigerian government to release religious leader in view of his deteriorating health condition.

During the presser, the speakers said Sheikh Zakzaky and his supporters have suffered a brutal crackdown in the hands of soldiers of the Nigerian Army, where not less than one thousand the Islamic cleric’s supporters were killed in cold blood.

In a statement the Islamic Movement said over two hundred of Sheikh Zakzaky’s supporters have been freed by the courts for the same cooked up charges that the Islamic cleric is being tried in court.

The Islamic Movement noted that all request by the Zakzaky legal team to the Kaduna state government to secure a new date for the continuation of his trial have come to no avail in total disregard for Zakzaky’s health.

The Islamic Movement said the arrest and continuous detention of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife, irrespective of their deteriorating health, are in total disregard for the rule of law, and commitment to impunity by the Nigerian government.

Sheikh Zakzaky has been in detention for close to five years in violation of a Federal High Court ruling ordering for his unconditional release.

The IMN said Sheikh Zakzaky has already suffered two strokes while in detention. The statement demanded for the release of both Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat because of they need urgent medical attention.