The leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, is on his way back to the country three days after embarking on a medical trip to India.
A Spokesman for the IMN, Ibrahim Musa, told newsmen that the Shi’ite leader is expected to leave India on today at 5 pm Nigerian time.
In a statement on Thursday Musa, said EL-Zakzaky’s homecoming was as a result of lack of medical treatment he could not get in India hospital.
The statement said, “Following lack of breakthrough in the impasse that ensued in the treatment in New Delhi of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, it is now confirmed that the Sheikh is on his way back to Abuja, Nigeria.
“In a video message sent through his office, the Sheikh said it was decided that they will be taken to the airport to be flown back to Nigeria. He has left Delhi by 17:00 Nigerian time.
“He prayed that, may that be the best option in the circumstances.
“The Nigerian government’s interference and scuttling of the whole process rather than supervision as ordered by the court is the direct cause of the impasse. The government never wanted the medical leave in the first place, and did whatever to stop it by all means possible”.
Recall that El-Zakzaky, who was flown to Medenta Hospital in New Delhi alongside his wife, Zenaat, on Monday, alleged that the US government put the hospital management under intense pressure not to treat him, adding that he was placed under the watch of Indian security operatives.
El-Zakzaky, in an audio apparently recorded in the Indian hospital, explained that he was not allowed to move from his room to the next, noting that he was also not allowed to see his preferred doctors.
He said, “While in Nigeria, we got information that the United States Embassy had given instructions that we shouldn’t be accepted in this hospital.
“We also heard that they obeyed the order and said they won’t accept us, so we were even thinking of going elsewhere in India but later on, we were informed that the order had been lifted.”
The Shi’ite leader said the hospital staff took him in an ambulance to a security facility where he was allegedly detained.
El-Zakzaky maintained that the doctors who attended to him simply offered medical advice, adding that he informed them that he would not allow untrusted doctors to treat him.
He said, “When we got here (New Delhi), an official of the Nigerian Embassy told us that they already discussed with the staff of this hospital and security operatives on what to do.
“They later took us to an Indian security outfit that is even more sophisticated than the one we were kept in Nigeria.
“We then told them we won’t allow any other doctor aside our trusted doctors to attend to us so that they don’t do to us what they couldn’t do with their bullets in Nigeria.”
He added, “All we have seen here has shown us that there is no trust; they just brought us here for another detention. I have been in and out of detention for about 13 years but I’ve never seen this kind of security that I’m seeing here.
