The Initiative For Conciliation And Right Protection has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to allow Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) to attend to his deteriorating health condition.
The group condemned President Muhammadu Buhari and the Department of State Services for ignoring medical advice that El-Zakzaky and his wife, who are both in detention, need to be taken outside of the country for appropriate medical treatment due to their failing health.
Comrade Ahmad S. Isa, Convener of the group, in a statement said the Nigerian government should immediately heed to the medical advice and allow El-Zakzaky treats himself.
The statement reads, “We are displeased that the Sheikh and his wife are still under detention despite the gravity of their injuries and their deteriorating health condition, despite a Federal High Court judgment delivered in December 2016 by Justice Gabriel Kolawale that ordered for the immediate and unconditional release.
“We are calling on the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) led by President Muhammadu Buhari to allow Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife to be flown abroad for proper medicare due to the various injuries sustained during his ordeal in the hands of the military, medical experts who came to Nigeria to check his health, clearly stated the need for him to be taken abroad for adequate medical treatment, especially his left eye that is now riddled with bullet particles. The government must take this request very seriously.
“In view of the foregoing, it is mandatory for the Nigerian authorities under President Buhari to release Sheikh El-Zakzaky and his wife Zeenah Ibraheem immediately and unconditionally as the government have no single reason for detaining them any longer.”
The group is also urging the Nigerian government to respect international laws protecting the rights of every citizen.
“In accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Recognizing those rights derived from the inherent dignity of human person. (General Assembly resolution 39/40; 10-12-1983, Article 27 (1) Article 55, African Charter on Human and People’s Right,” Isa said that the Nigeria government signed, rectified and domesticated it as its own law.
He also noted that the Anti-Torture Act of Nigeria, 2017 states, “No Justification for torture – No exceptional circumstances what so ever may be invoked as a justification for torture. It prohibits secret detention facilities, solitary confinement, incommunicado detentions.”
