Hon. Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu of the Federal High Court 9 sitting in Abuja has again adjourned the case challenging the no...
Hon. Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu of the Federal High Court 9 sitting in Abuja has again adjourned the case challenging the non-issuance of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky’s passport and that of his wife, Zeenah Ibraheem.
Speaking to newsmen at the court, today Wednesday, counsel to the duo, Abubakar Marshal said it has become pertinent for his clients to seek the court’s order requesting the Federal Government to release their passports.
He said the respondents are seeking a court order mandating the release of their passports.
“Unfortunately, none of the defendants was in court. The respondents were absent and there was no reason for the absence. Although one of them reached out to us.
“We have two suits. One is by Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and the other by his wife, Zeenah El-Zakzaky. They are seeking the order of the court mandating the Nigerian Immigration Service to issue them another international passport to enable them to attend to medical attention abroad.
“As you may recall, the couple went through the trial of a trumped-up charge that lasted for three years but has been vindicated by a court and set free. As of today, they are free men in the course of their ordeal with the Nigerian Army in 2015, their international passports seized and destroyed by the officers of the Nigerian Army.
“In 2019, their passports were already prepared to travel abroad for a court order treatment in Medanta Hospital, India. Upon their return from India, the Department of State Services (DSS) refused to hand their passports back to them since their vindication by the court. Immigration has refused to issue them another passport even though it has been shown that the couples are in dire need of medical attention, arising from injuries they sustained during the holocaust attack on their premises in Zaria in 2015.
“As you may well recall, the couple have pellets of bullets in parts of their bodies. And the authorities in Nigeria have refused them medical attention despite overwhelming evidence that these couples are in dire need of this medical attention.
“But the authorities have refused for reasons best known to them. We don’t know why they are refusing this couple. They are holding back in Nigeria. But passport rights are fundamental human rights. And, this couple should be allowed to access this urgent medical attention to save their lives. Because as of today, as I speak to you now, their life is in danger”, Marshal said.
It would be recalled that Sheikh Zakzaky and Malama Zeenah Ibraheem have dragged the Nigerian Intelligence Agency, Department of State Services, and the Nigerian Immigration Service for withholding their passports with numbers A50578740 and A50578739, a development that has stopped them from accessing medical attention.
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