Dr. Shajareh, a Zakzaky loyalist, in Iran says it is “outrageous” that the Nigerian government put pressure on India to deport the ailing sheikh. Dr. Shajareh in new video obtained by Per Second News in Iran says many of those who had been campaigning that Sheik Zakzaky receive medical treatment are now “extremely disappointed and angry”.
“We the campaigners are not going to accept this. We are going all the way until we see that justice is prevailed. I tell you now that there is a long road ahead, but victory is going to be with those who stand for justice.”
Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) had travelled to India for medical reasons but forced to return home without being treated.
Top government officials in Nigeria familiar with the matter said that the Zakzaky violated the terms of his agreement. This newspaper also revealed that the IMN leader spoke to Iranian cleric Ayatollah Mohsen Araki in a move experts said angered the federal government.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Grace Isu Gekpe, in a statement 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.
It was also stated that El-Zakzaky requested to be allowed to check into a 5-Star hotel instead of a hospital, and demanded free movement. The statement read: “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“He also demanded that Police protection be withdrawn from him by the Indian authorities. The top Shiite cleric has been held in detention since December 2015 and was charged in April 2018 with murder, culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, disruption of public peace and other accusations. He has pleaded not guilty. Zakzaky has lost his left eyesight in a raid by the Nigerian army on his residence in the northern town of Zaria in December 2015. During the raid, the cleric’s wife sustained serious wounds too and more than 300 of his followers and three of his sons were killed.
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