Shiites kick over health of detained leader, El-Zakzaky

Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) at weekend stormed some major cities in the North to protest against the alleged deteriorating health condition of their spiritual leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky. Consequently, they urged the Federal Government to immediately release him from detention for treatment.

After the march which held in Kaduna, Katsina, Kano and Bauchi states, the group’s spokesman, Mallam Ibrahim Musa, in a statement yesterday in Kaduna, said: “From a rare visit to our leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, it has been confirmed to us that his health has suffered a severe knock in the past two days, such that he is critically ill and in urgent need of the best medical attention possible.

“We have seen this coming because of his age – almost clocking 67 years old, and the several gunshots wounds he sustained during the murderous attack on his home by the military in December 2015. To say that we, his followers, are agitated by the latest development is to say the least.”

He continued: “We are deeply concerned and disenchanted by the attitude of this administration towards our peaceful protests and demands that the Sheikh and his wife be released as ordered by a Federal High Court in Abuja. It seems those holding our leader captive are just waiting for time to kill him, since Allah has rescued him from their attempt to get him eliminated using military might.

“The fact that for the past two years, our Sheikh has endured all the mental and physical torture he has been subjected to by the Buhari administration is enough a miracle from Allah the Almighty. He has been shot at close range, for him to die, but he survived it. He has been denied proper medical care, but he still carries on. A vigorous campaign of calumny against him has been mounted by his detractors, but he still enjoys the tumultuous support and sympathy of millions of people. This is a miracle they don’t want to admit, but which is very clear to all discerning people.”