Shiites ask FG to release El-Zakzaky after his wife contracted COVID-19 in detention

Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) aka Shiites have asked the Federal Government to released their leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky from detention, after his wife, Zeenah, who is also in detention, contracted COVID-19 in Kaduna correctional facility.

The Islamic group expressed worry that six days after testing positive for the disease, Zeenah had not been taken to any specialised hospital to receive proper medical care.

In a statement on Friday, January 22, 2021, Ibrahim Musa, IMN’s spokesman said “We all know that COVID-19 requires an immediate response to medical advice. More so, Malama Zeenah Ibrahim has been denied treatment for acute medical conditions including severe arthritis of the knee for five years now. She is still in Kaduna prison at the moment, yet to be hospitalised and yet to receive proper health care.”

Musa said Zeenah is at risk of severe illness and/or death considering her underlying medical conditions and age.

He added: “Sheikh Zakzaky himself suffers from many underlying conditions which put him at high risk of developing life-threatening symptoms should he contract the virus.

“The couple are next due to appear in court on Monday, January 25, to face the bogus charges brought against them by the government of El-Rufai. The length of time they have spent in custody since being arrested in 2015 reinforces the view that the Buhari regime is conducting a witch-hunt against the couple and abusing the judicial system in the hope that they will die quietly in custody.

“We believe Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife should not be in custody in the first place. A competent court in Abuja freed both of them on December 2, 2016, but the Federal Government contemptuously refused to obey the judgment of the court.

“We call upon well-meaning Nigerians and the international community to prevail on the federal and Kaduna State governments to ensure maximum health care for this patient that is in her 60s and still grieving the extra-judicial killing of her six children. We pray to Almighty Allah to grant her good health, protect her husband and other inmates as well as the prison officials from this deadly virus.”

Musa further said that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nasir El-Rufai-led Kaduna State Government should be held responsible if anything bad happened to El-Zalzaky and his wife.