Global rights group Amnesty International has called for the immediate release of Jamila Ibrahim, a nursing mother detained with her infant child since March 28 after participating in a peaceful Quds Day procession in Abuja.
The 30-year-old woman and her then one-month-old baby remain incarcerated at Suleja Prison four months after their arrest at Wuse Market during the Palestine solidarity rally. Authorities have denied Ibrahim access to legal representation or family visits while failing to bring any charges before a court.
Amnesty’s Nigeria office condemned the detention as part of the government’s “consistent, unlawful, ruthless and violent crackdown” on the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN). The group documented how security forces have killed hundreds of IMN members since 2015, including infants, during what were constitutionally-protected religious processions.
“The unlawful detention and violent crackdown on IMN members is unjustified,” Amnesty stated, noting the Quds Day participants posed “no imminent threat to life.”
The rights organization warned that “continuous failure to investigate these gross human rights violations is fueling a dangerous disdain for the sanctity of human life.”
The case has drawn comparisons to previous IMN crackdowns where courts later ruled detainees’ rights were violated. Prison authorities declined comment when contacted about Ibrahim’s welfare.
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