El-Zakzaky Deserves To Be Tried In Good Health
The Kaduna State Government has called on Indian authorities not to grant asylum status to the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and his wife, Zeenah.
In a statement signed by Samuel Aruwan, Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, the state government said granting the popular cleric asylum would prevent him from facing justice for offences he had been accused of.
El-Zakzaky, who is the leader of Shiites in Nigeria, and his wife have been in detention since 2015 despite a Federal High Court order granting them bail, on terms. While the Federal Government filed an appeal against that bail, the Kaduna State government is also prosecuting him and his wife for various offences.
On its part, the Kaduna State government has indicated its intention to appeal the decision of the high court of the state. The appeal was however yet to be filed as at yesterday. While we concede the right to appeal to the state, we think there is no moral justification for such a step. We wonder what the state government intends to achieve by filing an appeal against conditional approval by a court for citizens to seek medical attention.
Of course, we know that the crisis arising from his continued detention is not enough reason to free him if the court holds otherwise, but in this instance, the court believed his lawyer’s submission that he needs urgent medical attention and has granted him the permission to travel. So, what does the state government stand to gain, when the court granted him permission on condition that he returns to face his trial? We think Kaduna State government is acting unreasonably, everything considered.
The only reservation we have about the court order is that it affirms the comatose state of our nation’s medical infrastructure. To the shame of our country, it has become normal for public figures to travel abroad for the basest of ailments. Worse still, politically exposed persons standing trial for stealing humongous resources from our common treasury are allowed by courts to travel abroad for medical attention, while the ordinary Nigerians are left to grapple with the decayed medical facilities, which the stealing has made endemic.
So, if those who have allegedly stolen from our common patrimony could be granted unconditional leave to travel abroad for medical attention, what excuse will justify incarcerating El-Zakzaky and his wife, and denying them a chance to live, however offensive their religious practices are alleged to be. As we argued on this page recently, the continued detention of El-Zakzaky has morphed from a mere legal issue to political and cultural ferment. Any effort to reduce the continued detention to a mere legal tussle is an effort in futility.