President of the Media Forum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim Musa raised suspicions over the interference of the government on the medical leave granted to their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and alleged that the government had an ulterior motive.
In a statement issued on Friday, Musa further denied reports claiming their leader, refused treatment in India but insisted treatment by his doctors.
He however condemned the way and manner security agents whisked Zakzaky away upon arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport, Abuja without allowing journalists to have a chat with him.
He urged the security agency holding him hostage to declare to the public where they are keeping him in the country.
According to him, “We wish to set the records straight in order to disabuse the minds of Nigerian’s from the false claims perpetrated in some sponsored stories and articles in the media concerning his aborted medical treatment in India.”
“It is a well-known fact that the Nigerian authorities had tried all their antics to see that the Sheikh wasn’t given a medical leave. Distrustful of the Nigerian government’s offer of a jet to take him to the destination, having survived its attempts to poison and kill him while in detention, our leader Sheikh Zakzaky declined the offer and chose to pay for his trip through the Emirates Airline.
“Their ordeal started right here in Nigeria when they were schedule to board the plane to Dubai. After a 2 hours’ drive from Kaduna to Nnamdi Azikwe international Airport in Abuja, they were not given enough time to rest before boarding the plane. They endured an 8-hour flight to Dubai and another 3-hour flight to New Delhi. Under normal circumstances, as patients suffering life threatening ailments they shouldn’t have been subjected to such exhaustion. Nonetheless our leader and his wife endured the journey hoping that they will get good treatment when they reached New Delhi.”
He decried that even though mallam and his wife needed rest, on arrival they were wheeled to a hospital without their personal physician that accompanied them from Nigeria.
He added, “They were then subjected to physical examination in the absence of the doctors that examined them in Nigeria and when they requested for their presence, it was turned down. Even a physician that came from London was also denied access to them. It was at this point that Sheikh Zakzaky refused any attempt to have him forcefully treated.”
“More so, the hospital compromised its stance and medical ethics, as a result the Sheikh lost interest in the hospital and demanded to see his own doctors for a substitute arrangement. It is well within every patient’s right to decide whether or not to be treated and to also decide who attends to his health. It is called ‘giving of consent’, which every sane autonomous person with capacity is entitled to.”
“Contrary to the Nigerian government’s press statement, that misinformed that it was against “medical ethics and standard practice,” it is in fact at the very essence of medical ethics, which every elementary medical person knows.”
He however raised suspicions over the interference of the government saying, “It was planning to kill the Sheikh in India using its international connections.”
“It is very clear that the Nigerian government had an ulterior motive it was nursing using its connections in India when it violated court order and interfered with the procedures of the Sheikh’s treatment. This can also be deduced from the way the security agents whisked him away to an unknown destination after his arrival at the Abuja International airport, without allowing him to speak with the journalists that were waiting for his arrival.”
“The Islamic Movement will however continue its struggle to ensure that our leader gets the appropriate medical treatment he deserves as ordered by the Kaduna High court. And as we continue with the struggle, we wish to reiterate our call for the federal government to comply with an earlier Abuja high court that has freed him since 2016. We believe obedience to this court order will finally solve the crisis that has been lingering since the Zaria genocide of December 2015,” he insisted.
