Nigeria: Shiite leader, wife return from India

APA-Abuja (Nigeria)

The detained leader of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, who travelled to India for medical treatment have returned to Nigeria without the anticipated treatment.

They returned to Nigeria on Friday afternoon, four days after they travelled to the Asian country for treatment.

El-Zakzaky and his wife left Nigeria on Monday for India, following the ruling of the Kaduna State High Court, which granted them permission to be treated in the country.

On their arrival at the hospital where treatment was expected to commence, the trip turned controversial.

The IMN leader had been in detention since December 2015 after his members had a violent clash with the military in Zaria, Kaduna state, leading to the death of 347 people.

He is currently being tried in Kaduna on allegation of culpable homicide.

The IMN accused the Nigerian government of treating their leader like a criminal and denying him access to the doctor with whom they had an arrangement.

They also claimed that El-Zakzaky was denied free movement and was monitored by heavy security surveillance in India.

‘We Were Brought To Another Detention,’ El-Zakzaky Speaks on the situation In the Indian Hospital.

But the Nigerian government accused El-Zakzaky Of ‘unruly behaviour’ and apologised to India.

El-Zakzaky had also narrated his ordeal in the foreign country, saying the condition in India was worse than that of Nigeria.

“We saw that we were practically brought to another detention facility, which is even stricter than the one we were in back in Nigeria. They came here with police armed with guns and a lot of staff from the Nigerian embassy. And we also noticed we were brought into another detention that we only came based on trust,” he said.

But the Nigerian Government, in its response, denied the allegations by the IMN and its leader.

Instead, the government accused the Shiite leader of becoming unruly at the hospital in New Delhi.

It insisted that the allegations were “foul cry”, saying claims that El-Zakzaky was held in circumstances worse than he was in Nigeria should be disregarded.

The government said the IMN leader was allowed to embark on the trip with state officials in line with the court order and his choice to be accompanied by his aides and personal doctors were not opposed.

It added that the IMN leader chose the hospital where he was admitted in India, but he began to display “ulterior motives” against laid down procedures.



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