The leader of the Shiite group Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky and wife Zeenat finally departed Abuja for medical treatment at the Medenta Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Zakzaky and his wife were accompanied on the trip by operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS). The two had been in custody for over three years.
A Kaduna State High Court had granted the IMN leader and his wife leave to undergo treatment in India, saying the medical leave will last until they are discharged from the hospital.
“As soon as they are discharged, they will return to the country to continue with the trial,” the Kaduna State Director, Public Prosecution, Bayero Dari, had quoted the judge as saying after the court’s sitting.
Before the court ruling, the IMN had complained that the cleric was blind in his left eye.
Zakzaky’s journey to India, Daily Trust reports, started from Kaduna yesterday. He was transported from Kaduna where he was facing trial to Abuja via train.
Sources told Daily Trust that Zakzaky and his wife, alongside some family members, arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja at noon. DSS operatives were already at the airport before the arrival.
Zakzaky and hife were kept in an enclosed place at the airport away from public view before his flight time. Journalists were also denied access to the boarding area on instructions from the DSS.
They departed the airport on board the Emirates Airlines around 6.45pm. The aircraft was marked B777-31H(ER) with flight number EK786.
Our reporter said the IMN leader was spotted being wheeled into the aircraft few minutes after 6pm. He was the last passenger to board. They will go through Dubai.
Throughout his stay at the airport, DSS operatives were seen around the departure area.
Long way to medical trip
Daily Trust recalled that few days after the medical leave was granted Zakzaky and his wife by Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court, the Kaduna State government said an appeal will be lodged on the matter, but a stay of execution will not be sought.
It also filed for strict supervision of the medical term, saying among other things that:
“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 jeopardize 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 not clear yesterday if the defendants had fulfilled all the conditions before their departure.
Free Zakzaky committee expresses joy
Meanwhile, The Free Zakzaky Campaign Committee has thanked “all people of conscience, particularly the team of lawyers led by Femi Falana SAN, some very senior citizens, diplomats, human rights activists and organizations, journalists and the general public who doggedly stood by the campaign for justice for the victims of Zaria genocide.”
Chairman of the campaign, Abdurrahman Abubakar Yola in a statement yesterday expressed joy over the departure of their leader for treatment abroad.
He said, “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 much hitches.”
Yola noted that both the Sheikh and his wife “are known to be clearly very ill in detention”, adding that because of their prolonged detention, “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 sight completely in the other,” he said, adding that the wife had been under excruciating pains with shrapnel deeply lodged in her body. “She now is able to ambulate only with the use of a wheelchair, even to the airport,” he said.
Prior to the court’s ruling on Zakzaky’s medical leave, Daily Trust had reported how some prominent personalities in the north intervened in an effort to help douse the tension generated by the daily protests being held by the IMN.
The prominent persons intervened by reaching out to the second most senior member of the Shiite group after obtaining the understanding of both the federal and the Kaduna State governments.
Daily Trust had also reported how the IMN leader and his wife had to obtain new passports for the trip to India “because they (the passports) got burnt during the December 2015 crisis in Zaria, Kaduna State.
Efforts to get the reaction of the state government failed as the commissioner for internal security and home affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan did not pick his call and did not respond to an SMS sent to his line.
