Photos purportedly show Governor El-Rufai begging Shiites leader El-Zakzaky for votes

Governor Nasir El-Rufai has banned Nigeria’s foremost Shiite group the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN).

Any activity organised under the name of the group is now illegal.

Nigerian soldiers reportedly shot Shiites leader El-Zakzaky foru times. He's pictured here being "transported" to wherever in a wheelbarrow. — *Zaria clash: Nigerian soldiers reportedly shot Shiites leader El-Zakzaky four times. He’s pictured here being “transported” to wherever in a wheelbarrow.*

The governor said via a spokesperson that the ban was effected to ensure public safety, public order, public morality or public health; and to safeguard the rights and freedom of all persons in Kaduna State.

But the relationship between IMN and Kaduna hasn’t been this bad.

Photos recently posted online by a rival political group suggest there’s lots of love lost between El-Rufai and IMN leader Sheikh El-Zakzaky.

The governor seemed to have courted the Shiites leader’s favour to win votes from his numerous followers.

El-Rufai is also reported to have worshipped at a Shiite temple.

Photo Gallery: When El-Rufai “loved” Shiites

NewsroomNG has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the photos.

El-Zakzaky is currently being detained by Nigerian forces after a December 2015 Shiites march in Zaria degenerated into bloodshed.

IMN has vowed to continue holding gatherings.

“Nothing can take away our rights as individuals or groups to worship and associate,” spokesman Ibrahim Musa said in a statement.

Musa asked why the government seem uninterested in prosecuting army generals alleged to have ordered Nigerian soldiers to massacre Shiites in Zaria.

*Days after Kaduna ban IMN, President Muhammadu Buhari received Chief Imam of Saudi Arabia, Sheik Abdul-Mushin Ibn Muhammad Al-Kasimy, others in Aso Rock.*

Some context from Wall Street Journal:

“Sunnis account for some 90% of the 1.6 billion Muslims world-wide and have been the dominant school in the Middle East for centuries. Although Shiites are spread across the Middle East and South Asia, they constitute a majority only in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain, which is ruled by a Sunni king.

The split between Islam’s main schools stems from a clash over succession after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in the year 632. Shiites believe power should have gone to the prophet’s son-in-law Ali and grandson Hussain; Sunnis think it shouldn’t have been hereditary.”

An overwhelming majority of Nigerian Muslims are with Saudi Arabia on this one. Some say that’s why the Nigerian government, with support from Riyadh, fights IMN.