A Kaduna High Court on Monday granted permission to detained leader of the proscribed Shi’ite Islamic organization, Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzarky and his wife Zeenat, to go to India to attend to their failing health.
Justice Darius Khobo in granting the application by the Shi’ites’ leader and his wife said both of them must return to Nigeria immediately they were discharged from the Indian hospital to resume their trial. He also said they must not go to any other hospital apart from the one specified in their application. The judge also ordered that they must be accompanied on the trip by State officials.
The couple who have been standing trial at a Kaduna High Court for some time now were injured in a clash the IMN had with the Nigerian Army on December 15, 2015. Bullet pellets were reportedly lodged in their bodies since then and they require treatment at a specialist hospital in India to remove them.
Simple as this request for hospital treatment might seem, El-Zakzarky and his lawyers had actually been fighting for long to get this court order, and at some points, it appeared they were not going to be successful. And with several court orders for their release ignored by the Department of State Security, coupled with seeming reluctance by the courts to give more orders that might not be obeyed, it was a surprise that Justice Khobo’s order came at all and even a bigger surprise that the DSS agreed to comply with the order. So what changed.
Since El-Zakzarky and wife’s detention, there had been outcries across the country and even outside the country for their release especially after the courts had said so. Members of the IMN, especially in the north western part of the country, where there are many of them, had mounted repeated street protests calling for their freedom. Some of these protests have often turned violent resulting in loss of lives, most times on the part of the protesters.
The most recent of such protests, took place in Abuja, the Federal Capital and the violence that ensued left a Deputy Commissioner of Police and a Corps member dead, in addition to some casualties on the part of the Shi’ite protesters.
This protest and the accompanying deaths reverberated across the country and not a few are of the opinion that the outcry that they generated might have influenced the court order granting them permission to travel abroad for medical treatment, even though courts are not given to yielding to public opinions and are indeed insulated from them. Or probably rightly put, the protest influenced the decision of the DSS, and by extension the government, to obey the order of the court.
Whatever was responsible for this seeming change of heart by government, not a few Nigerians are relieved that the brewing threat to national security posed by the continued incarcerations of El-Zakzarky and wife has gone down, now that he will be allowed to seek medical attention at a hospital of his choice, especially outside the country.
The prevalent fear out there is that if anything untoward should happen to him while in detention, like the experience of Yusuf, the late Boko Haram leader, we might have another insurgency on our hands as his supporters who are already given to violence, might take up arms against the country.
Now that the court has granted his request for medical treatment abroad and government has agreed to allow him to proceed to the hospital of his choice in India, nothing should be done by bureaucracy to put any impediment(s) on his way to getting a proper medical attention. Nothing should also be done by El-Zakzarky and his handlers to stop or delay his and wife’s return to the country immediately they complete their treatments and confirmed fit by the Indian hospital.
The court order was not a bail, neither did it discharge and acquit them, but just a leave to travel abroad for medical treatment and the Shi’ites’ leader and his wife are expected to resume their trial once they are confirmed fit to and returned to the country, as ordered by Justice Khobo. Perhaps it might be necessary to have a medical doctor from the DSS to also accompany the duo to India as part of the state officials ordered by the court. This is to ensure that there is no collusion between El-Zakzarky’s team and the Indian hospital to unnecessarily prolong his stay in India.
Before allowing them to head to India, the Nigerian government might need to inform the Indian government of the court order that El Zakzakky should return home immediately after treatment, not only to prevent any unnecessary overstay in India, but also to prevent them from leaving for another country.
There are genuine fears that the Shi’ites’ leader and his wife could sneak out of India and go to Iran on completion of their treatment, thereby running away from completing the course of their trial. This is a legitimate fear as there are insinuations that the mainly Shi’ite Iran has been financially and diplomatically supporting the IMN and its activities in Nigeria. Not a few would consider this as an interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs if proven to be true.
We are not necessarily bothered whether this is true or not, but what is important is that El-Zakzarky and his wife return to the country to complete their trial once they are fit to and the court allowed to make its pronouncement on the charge(s) against them. This is how the rule of law works and should be allowed to work. This is an important responsibility on the shoulders of their handlers especially their counsels.
Their trial and incarceration should be devoid of the political coloration being given to it by antagonists and supporters alike. If a man had committed a crime and arrested, let the law take its course. No one should plead for him outside the court. If any plea of leniency should be made at all, let the defence counsel approach the court, in the open, and make his/her plea. There should be consequences for every crime committed.
On the flip side of the coin, no one also should be arrested without an offense having been committed. And where the court has made a pronouncement, such should not only be obeyed but in full too. No party, especially the government, should choose which order of the court to obey.
In the case of El-Zakzarky and his wife, it is regrettable that government conveniently ignored previous court orders for his release. This is not the way to uphold the rule of law. Even if the government was not pleased with such orders, there are provisions and processes for an appeal; they should be exhausted and whatever final outcome reached by the courts, should be accepted by all the parties.
And now that the government has agreed to comply with the latest court order on El-Zakzarky, it is hoped that this would signal the end to government’s usual disregard for unfavorable court orders. It is hoped also that the supporters of the Shi’ites’ leader would desist from their provocative and often violent protest actions aimed at drawing attention to his detention and securing his release. They should channel their energies and resources lawfully through the courts to achieve this. Protests and violence would not secure freedom for El-Zakzarky and wife. Such can only invite reciprocal violence and lead to breakdown in law and order. We’ve had too much of insecurity on our plate in the country, to add another one is a luxury Nigeria can not afford. It would be an invitation to disaster.
