Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), who left Nigeria on Monday, for medical treatment in India, returned to Nigeria on Friday.
The IMN leader, along with his wife, Zeenat, arrived via an Ehiopian Airline aircraft with registration number ET911, which landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 11.41 a.m.
An airport official, who pleaded anonymity, told anxious journalists at the new arrival terminal of the airport that El-Zakzaky had “passed through an alternative arrival terminal”.
“The man (El-Zakzaky), has arrived; he passed through another arrival terminal”, the official told newsmen..
Immediately after his clearance by Immigration officials, he was whisked away by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
But, El-Zakzaky, who spoke through his spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, declared that he left India because the Federal Government allegedly tried to kill him in India using its international connections.
Musa also said the security agency holding him hostage should declare to the public “where they are keeping him in the country”.
He vowed that the movement would continue the struggle to arrange another medical trip for him outside Nigeria and also his freedom from DSS detention.
”We wish to reiterate our call for the federal government to comply with an earlier Abuja high court that has freed him since 2016. We believe obedience to this court order will finally solve the crisis that has been lingering since the Zaria genocide of December 2015″, Musa said.
In a statement on Friday, which he described as ‘setting the records straight’, the IMN spokesman highlighted some developments leading to the El-Zakzaky stand-off with doctors at India’s Medanta Hospital.
“It is a well-known fact that the Nigerian authorities had tried all their antics to see that the Sheikh wasn’t given a medical leave. Distrustful of the Nigerian government’s offer of a jet to take him to the destination, having survived its attempts to poison and kill him while in detention, our leader, Sheikh Zakzaky, declined the offer and chose to pay for his trip through the Emirates Airline.
“Their ordeal started right here in Nigeria when they were scheduled to board the plane to Dubai. After a 2 hours’ drive from Kaduna to Nnamdi Azikwe international Airport in Abuja, they were not given enough time to rest before boarding the plane. They endured an eight hours flight to Dubai and another three hours flight to New Delhi. Under normal circumstances, as patients suffering life threatening ailments, they shouldn’t have been subjected to such exhaustion. Nonetheless, our leader and his wife endured the journey hoping that they will get good treatment when they reached New Delhi.
“However, even though they needed rest, on arrival they were wheeled to a hospital without their personal physician that accompanied them from Nigeria. They were then subjected to physical examination in the absence of the doctors that examined them in Nigeria and when they requested for their presence, it was turned down. Even a physician that came from London was also denied access to them. It was at this point that Sheikh Zakzaky refused any attempt to have him forcefully treated.
“More so, the Hospital compromised its stance and medical ethics, as a result the Sheikh lost interest in the hospital and demanded to see his own doctors for a substitute arrangement. It is well within every patient’s right to decide whether or not to be treated and to also decide who attends to his health. It is called ‘giving of consent’, which every sane autonomous person with capacity is entitled to. Contrary to the Nigerian government’s statement, that misinformed that it was against “medical ethics and standard practice,” it is in fact at the very essence of medical ethics, which every elementary medical person knows.
“The interference of the government raised suspicion that it was planning to kill the Sheikh in India using its international connections. He insisted that if he would not be allowed to see the doctors that brought him to India, he would rather come back to Nigeria and seek another destination for his treatment. This became clear because of the government’s stance insisting on other doctors than the ones that he was in India to meet. They finally decided to bring him back for refusing to succumb to be treated by their chosen doctors.
“It is worth noting that the Kaduna High Court allowed the Sheikh to go to India with the government only supervising, instead the federal government presented him to the Indian government as a dangerous suspect with an unknown ailment coming to India and demanded stringent security placed on him. There was even a report that the security agents in India subjected him to physical assault.
“It is glaringly clear that the Nigerian government had an ULTERIOR MOTIVE it was nursing, using its connections in India when it violated court order and interfered with the procedures of the Sheikh’s treatment. This can also be deduced from the way the security agents whisked him away to unknown destination after arrival at Abuja International airport, without allowing him to have audience with the journalists that were waiting for his arrival”.
The cleric, who is facing an eight-count charge of homicide in a case filed by the Kaduna State Government, was granted leave for medical treatment by a Kaduna High Court on August 5.
El-Zakzaky and his wife subsequently travelled to India via Dubai, for medical treatment after the Federal Government and relevant agencies took steps to comply with the order in spite of protestation by Kaduna State Government.
However, the Federal Government in a statement on Wednesday, said that the religious leader was frustrating the authorities of the Indian hospital where he was to be treated.
In the statement, “The true story on El-Zakzaky in India”, the government said that the cleric, who particularly chose Medanta Hospital, India for the treatment, had begun to display ulterior motives against laid down procedures.
The statement signed by Grace Isu Gekpe, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, said that the cleric refused to subject himself to preliminary medical checks after State officials resisted his pressure to hand over his International Passport to him.
“He also demanded free movement and access to visitors of all kinds, and also requested to be allowed to check into a 5-Star Hotel instead of being admitted in the hospital.
“That request was rejected on the ground that he came into the country for medicals, and not as a tourist, especially with the Visa issued on medical grounds and not for tourism.
“He also demanded that Police protection be withdrawn from him by the Indian authorities.
“Against medical ethics and standard practice, he requested to nominate Doctors of his choice to join the ones tasked by Medanta Hospital to perform medical treatment on him and his wife.
“That demand created a stalemate as the Hospital insisted that he would not dictate to it on the choice of medical personnel to carry the required medical treatment.
“Frustrated by his antics, the Indian authorities have expressed willingness to return him to Nigeria with immediate effect. This is on the account that they will not allow him use their country to internationalise his group’s activities.
“The Nigerian government commended the stand of the Indian Government and also apologise to her for the “unruly behaviour” of El-Zakzaky.
The statement affirmed government’s readiness to prosecute El-Zakzaky through due process, if and when he is returned to the country, urging Nigerians to ignore his claims that he was being held in circumstances worse than he was in Nigeria.
