The 44-month face-off between the federal government and the leader of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Mr. Ibraheem el-Zakzaky ended yesterday with the former and wife, Zeenat leaving Nigeria for medical treatment in India.
Justice Darius Khobo of Kaduna State High Court had last week granted the couple leave to seek treatment abroad but they should be accompanied by officials of the Kaduna State government and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
“As soon as they are discharged, they will return to the country to continue with the trial,” the judge further said.
The couple, who had been detained since December 2015 after the bloody clash between IMN disciples and the convoy of the chief of army staff in Kaduna, left aboard Emirates Airlines flight operating from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
It was learnt El-Zakzaky and wife who would be treated at the Medenta Hospital, New Delhi, India were accompanied on the medical trip by a 10-man delegation consisting of operatives of six Department of State Service (DSS) operatives and four IMN members.
PRNigeria reports that President Muhammadu Buhari may have discarded the new legal hurdles erected by the Kaduna State government an accepted the court’s ruling that granted the IMN leader permission to seek medical treatment abroad.
It would be recalled that after Justice Khobo had ruled on the bail application, the Kaduna state government which in the instance place charged El-Zakzaky and his wife to court for culpable homicide said it had approached the court seeking for seven measures that would ensure that the defendants do not become asylum seekers in India.
The state’s commissioner for internal security and home affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, said in a statement in Kaduna that “while the Kaduna state government respects the court’s ruling on medical leave, it disagrees with the premises on which it is based.
In compliance with the court’s ruling, Aruwan said the Kaduna state government had filed at the Kaduna High Court terms for strict supervision of the medical leave, as follows:
“The ministry of foreign affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall confirm the appointments of the defendants/applicants with the Medanta Hospital, India, and undertake all necessary diplomatic arrangements and protocols to ensure compliance with the conditions of the medical leave.
“Each of the defendants/applicants shall undertake to return to Nigeria to continue their trial as soon as they are discharged from the hospital, and shall also be responsible for the cost of their travel, treatment and living expenses while on their medical leave.
“Each of the defendants/applicants shall produce two prominent and reliable persons as sureties, one being a first class chief/emir of national repute and the other a prominent person within Kaduna State who shall undertake to produce the defendants whenever they are needed. The sureties must also produce evidence of landed property within Kaduna State.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria shall obtain from the government of India an irrevocable guarantee that it will not entertain any application by the defendants/applicants or any third party seeking asylum under any guise or conferring the status of political prisoners or any other status aside from being medical patients on the defendants/applicants and shall also restrain the defendants/applicants from any act inimical to the corporate existence of Nigeria.
“Each of the defendants/applicants shall undertake in writing, endorsed by their counsel, that while on medical treatment in India, they shall do nothing to jeopardise the ongoing trial, the peace and security of Nigeria and the laws of the Republic of India in whatever form.
“Security agents of the Federal Government of Nigeria shall escort the defendants/applicants and remain with them throughout the duration of their treatment in India and thereafter shall return with them after their discharge from the hospital.
“The Nigerian High Commission in India shall undertake prior vetting and grant consent before any visitor has access to the defendants/applicants while in the Republic of India.”
It was also learnt that The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and DSS which who had been working behind the scene to resolve the impasse occasioned by El-Zakzaky’s detention of advised the presidency on the appropriateness of obeying the court orders since some foreign interests including the Iranian government had sought a diplomatic approach in managing the issue.
The Nation quotes a federal government’s source as saying: “The government decided to allow four leaders/ members of the Shiites to follow El-Zakzaky to demonstrate its commitment to a fair and transparent medical procedure.
“The government did not want to leave any gap for misrepresentation of the medical treatment. All these delegates will be part of the process.
“The government felt there was need to build confidence between the two sides. This is a sensitive trip.”
It was also learnt that the Federal Government “mitigated the legal course, especially the conditions attached to the trip” based on security reports and to show good faith.
“The conditions set by the court were acceptable to both parties and the federal government deliberately mitigated further legal hurdles at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court to show good faith.
“Security reports also indicated that there was no basis for dragging the legal issues on the conditions further. The agencies advised against aggravating the situation,” the source added.
Reacting to the development, the Free Zakzaky Campaign Committee expressed appreciation to “all people of conscience”, human rights groups and diplomats, among others who worked behind the scenes to ensure the right thing was done despite the hurdles put on the way by the Kaduna State government.
In a statement, the chairman of the committee, Mr. Abdurrahman Abubakar Yola said: “The leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife have at last just left Nigeria for India alongside some family members and security operatives.
“This followed the granting of the couple’s application for leave to seek medical attention in New Delhi, India last week by Justice Darius Khobo of Kaduna State High Court.
“In spite of the attempted efforts at frustrating this emergency medical journey by the Kaduna state government, which tried to unilaterally put conditions to the journey even though it lacked such powers, the journey has gone on without hitches.
“This emergency medical journey is consequent on the facts that both the Sheikh and his wife are known to be clearly very ill in detention, sequel to the brutal wounds unjustifiably inflicted on them by the state agents in the name of Nigerian army, the resultant prolonged dehumanising detention in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the obvious poisoning of the Sheikh.
“As a result of all these physical and psychological stress, the Sheikh suffered series of mild strokes and is at the risk of further recurrences.
“At the same time, he lost one eye following the military attack and is at a severe risk of losing his sight completely in the other. He is now found to have more than twenty times the toxic levels of lead poison in his body!
“Similarly, the wife has been under excruciating pains with shrapnel deeply lodged in her body for all these years of inhuman conditions in detention. She now is able to ambulate only with the use of a wheelchair, even to the airport.
“They have been battling ailments that could not be treated in Nigeria, as posited by the foreign medical experts that earlier in the year assessed their health condition. Undoubtedly, both risk losing their lives had the medical journey been further delayed or denied.
“We wish to use this opportunity to thank all people of conscience, particularly the team of lawyers being led by Femi Falana, some very senior citizens, diplomats, human rights activists and organisations, journalists and the general public who doggedly stood by us in the campaign for justice for the victims of Zaria genocide. Thank you and God bless.”
