Sheikh Zakzaky Utterly Deprived of Medical Care in Prison: Daughter

Badia Ibraheem Zakzaky, daughter of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, expressed deep concern about her father's health conditions after being transferred to the general prison ward, saying that he does not have any access to doctors.

News ID: 448305

Date: 03 January 2020 - 10:58

RNA - "Three weeks ago, they (the Nigerian authorities) transferred Sheikh Zakzaky to the general prison, while he was not in good health conditions and have not allowed him to have his medication and visit doctors," Badia said on Wednesday.

She underlined the need for her father to receive proper treatment outside Nigeria, and said, "They aim to martyr Sheikh Zakzaky and they bother and annoy our family very much."

Back in 2015, Nigerian security forces raided the city of Zaria, during which they detained Sheikh Zakzaky, who is in his mid-sixties. The raid left more than 300 of his followers and three of his sons dead. The Sheikh lost one of his eyes; his wife also sustained serious injuries.

He has been kept in custody along with his wife and a large number of his followers ever since.

A High Court ordered the Department of State Services on December 5 to transfer the cleric and his wife, Zinat, to the Correctional Center in Kaduna state, Northwest of the country.

Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) said that any attempt to take the couple anywhere other than a hospital will put them in further jeopardy.

According to Fars News Agency, the IMN said the facilities at the Kaduna Central Prison are dilapidated, adding that it was the same prison where some survivors of the December 2015 raid perished due to a lack of medical attention.

Last year, the IMN accused the Nigerian government of having poisoned Zakzaky in jail after “large and dangerous quantities of lead and cadmium have been found in his blood”.

Last August, in an exclusive interview with FNA, Dr. Pourrahim Najafabadi, MD, said Sheikh Zakzaky needs to be cured by an experienced medical team of physicians in a specialized multi-specialty hospital outside Nigeria, since there is no such medical center in the African country.

In September, Tehran's provisional Friday Prayers leader Hojjatoleslam Kazzem Seddiqi blasted the international bodies which claim support for human rights for keeping mum about the dire situation of detained Nigerian cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky.

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