By Ammar M. Rajab It is no longer news that Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife, Malama Zeenah Ibrahim were been discharged an...
By Ammar M. Rajab
It is no longer news that Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife, Malama Zeenah Ibrahim were been discharged and acquitted by the Kaduna State High court on the 28th of July 2021. Justice Gideon Kurada Court upheld the no-case submission by Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife, Malama Zeenah.
The couple has been on illegal trial in the court for the past four years on an eight-count charge of culpable homicide, disruption of public peace and unlawful assembly among others.
The court said the charges were retroactive as the state government arraigned them for an alleged act that was not a crime at the time they were allegedly committed. Since then, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife still are suffering from several injuries that need urgent medical attention.
According to Dr Abubakar Yahaya, one of the personal physicians of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, and his wife, Malama Zeenah, in November 2021 said there is indeed fresh evidence confirming the couple are still suffering from several health challenges of great concern, as could be testified by the results of their routine medical tests, which have been carried out regularly since 2018 (after the Sheikh had his first stroke, upon which the DSS finally allowed access to their Physicians for the first time), and continued through the 2020 and 2021.
Dr Yahaya said; “In fact, the latest medical reports (24th September 2021) have been recently reviewed and listed up to eleven (11) multi-morbidities of great concern that are still being suffered by Sheikh Zakzaky, viz: Ischaemic heart disease; Left ventricular hypertrophy; Left and right thalamic Stroke; Cervical/Lumbar spondylosis with radiculopathy; Left eye anophthalmia; Right eye advanced-progressive glaucoma; Benign prostate hypertrophy; Heavy metal poisoning of Lead (Pb) and Cadmium (Cd); Penetrating forearm soft tissue injuries; Metallic foreign bodies following multiple gunshot injuries (up to 55 pellets that are currently still embedded, not extracted from the Shaikh) on the scalp, orbital, left forearm and left lateral/thigh; and Dyslipidaemia.
He also added that; “Experts from within and outside Nigeria have described such an expanse of multi-morbidities without proper interventions can be a highly life-threatening situation (medical report and full evidence of findings are available).
Likewise, Sheikh Zakzaky's wife Malama Zeenah in her latest medical report (24th September 2021), is also indicated to be suffering from a; “combination of eleven (11) multi-morbidities of great concern too, viz: Long-standing uncontrolled hypertension; Severe degenerative bilateral osteoarthritis of the knees rendering her completely wheelchair bound for the past 4 years and requiring total knee replacement surgeries Penetrating soft tissue bullet injury; Recurrent episodes of severe acute abdominal pains attributed to the foreign body; Gastritis; Hepatomegaly of unknown cause; uterine fibroid with cystic degeneration; Left sphenoid arthritis; Dyslipidaemia; Right breast Lumps with regional lymphadenopathy; and Right renal cyst (medical report and full evidence of findings are available).”
These are life-threatening health problems, and no one cares to pressurise the authorities to allow these innocent couples to seek medical attention abroad at a time when the president always using the taxpayers' money to seek medical attention abroad.
I am writing this with grief, how on earth are those at the helm of our affairs reacting to critical issues that need urgent attention like this? What are they afraid of? Why the AGF, NIA, DSS and NIS denied holding Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife's international passports? Is this not negligence on duty? Why would they hold the passports or loss them?
For this reason and some, the Sheikh separately dragged DSS, AGF, NIS, and NIA to courts for human rights violations, challenge the seizure of their international passports, and refusal to release their international passports.
In his case with NIS, the Sheikh prayed the court to declare that the refusal of the NIS to process their travel documents to enable them to travel abroad is illegal, unconstitutional, null and void. Unfortunately, the cases were always adjourned without any concrete reason(s). Just recently the Presiding Judge, Hon. Justice I.E Ekwo on the case of Sheikh Zakzaky Vs AGF, DSS, adjourned the hearing over pre-election matters. What kind of injustice is this? It always bewildered me how courts handle cases in our country.
Enough is enough for the continued incarceration of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife despite being discharged and acquitted. It is high time people of consciousness in and outside the country, National and International CSOs, Human Rights Organizations, and Journalists speak out, and pressurise whoever holds Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife's travel documents to release them so that the couple can seek medical attention abroad. Almost 200 doctors from over 7 countries want to offer medical treatments to the couple. Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife don’t need a penny from the government, what they need is their right to travel anywhere they want around the world without restriction. The couple was never convicted of any crime within and outside the country. Why the restriction? Who is afraid of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife seeking medical treatment abroad?
Ammar Muhammad Rajab wrote from Abuja and can be reached at ammarmuhammad1993@gmail.com
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