Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has recounted how he consoled the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, after two of his children were killed during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Dalung made this known during an interview from 19:51 on Channels Television on Saturday, September 12, 2026, while speaking about his personal relationship with the Shiite leader.
The former minister said he was among those who visited El-Zakzaky following the deaths of his children, urging him to accept the tragedy as the will of God.
He said, “We had relationship with him. Even when 2 of his children were killed during Jonathan’s time i was one of those who went to him and said ‘Mallam, you have to accept this as the will of God.’”
Dalung further recalled that El-Zakzaky responded calmly to his words of consolation, indicating that he would bury his children and move on from the tragedy.
He said, “He said it’s okay, that he was going to bury them and forget about it.”
The former minister’s account highlights the personal relationship he maintained with El-Zakzaky before the December 2015 confrontation between members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and the Nigerian military in Zaria, Kaduna State.