ANXIETY IN KADUNA AS EL-ZAKZAKY KNOWSFATE TOMORROW

Police to Intensify Surveillance From Andrew Agbese and Maryam Ahmadu-Suka, Kaduna

There are fears in Kaduna State over a court ruling slated for tomorrow on a bail application that will determine whether or not the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, can travel outside Nigeria for medical attention.

Residents of Kaduna are apprehensive that based on past experiences, movement within

the state capital would be highly restricted while business premises would remain shut for a better part of the day.

The police public relations officer in Kaduna, DSP Yakubu Sabo, said his men were taking proactive moves to forestall protests from the IMN members that could pose danger to other citizens.

He said the police would cordon streets leading to the court and intensify surveillance at likely flashpoints so as to avoid a breakdown of law and order.

“As we have done in the past, we will take proactive measures like cordoning certain parts of the town to make sure that people go about their normal businesses.

“We also appeal to the people to report any suspicious movement that is capable of breaching the peace,’’ he stated.

The bail application before a Kaduna State High Court is to determine whether the government should allow the IMN leader and his wife travel to India for medical check-up.

Our correspondents observed that the case has put anxiety in the minds of many residents around the vicinity of the court, located on Ibrahim Taiwo Road. Residents usually close their shops anytime the matter comes up.

Zakzaky and his wife have been standing trial over allegations of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of public peace, among other charges since December, 2015 when members of his movement blocked the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai in Zaria.

His detention has sparked a series of protests by his IMN members, both in Kaduna and Abuja, with many of such protests turning violent.

The recent protest in Abuja led to the death of a youth corps member attached to Channels television, a Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Usman Umar, and members of the movement.

At the resumed hearing on the matter on July 29, counsel to EL-Zakzaky, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), told Justice Khobo that pellets lodged in his clients’ bodies since 2015 had resulted in lead poisoning.

Falana argued that his clients were in dire need of medical attention, and urged the court to grant the bail application in order for them to seek medical attention in India.

He noted that they were not given adequate medical care since their arrest, expressing concern over their deteriorating health.

“My client is not in court because his health is very bad, and even during the last appearance, he could not climb the staircase to the courtroom. That is why we applied that he be excused from appearance in court and it was granted,” he stressed.

Counsel to the respondents and Kaduna State Director of Public Prosecution, Dari Bayero, on his part, opposed the bail application, saying his team had examined the eight medical reports by both Nigerian and foreign doctors that accompanied the IMN leader’s application, arguing that there were several medical facilities in the country that could handle the medical needs of the IMN leader and his wife and there was no need for them to travel to India.

Our correspondents learnt that the Prosecutor-General (AttorneyGeneral) of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammed Montazeri, has also written a letter to the Federal Government of Nigeria, asking it to allow El-Zakzaky to go to Iran for medical treatment.

The Iranian prosecutor-general, in the letter, urged the Nigerian judicial authorities to take steps “in line with their judicial independence and support for a captive citizen and provide the ground for his release and transfer him to the Islamic Republic of Iran for treatment.”

A Shi’ite socio-cultural organisation known as Al-Thaqalayn Cultural Foundation, recently expressed fear over the possibility of the Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky-led group becoming another version of the Boko Haram insurgency.

The secretary-general of the organisation, Sheikh Hamzah Lawal, while addressing a press conference in Kaduna, called on the Federal Government and security agencies to contact all stakeholders and explore all tactics and angles, with a view to addressing the problem and bringing it to an end.

The Federal Government, last week obtained a court order proscribing the activities of the IMN and declaring it a terrorist organisation, a move that the Shi’ite group has launched a court action to challenge.

Following the order, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, said members of the IMN would be treated like terrorists and enemies of the state and prosecuted under the Terrorism Act.