THISDAY

EL-ZAKZAKY’S BOTCHED MEDICAL TRIP

Ibrahim el-Zakzaky’s aborted medical treatment in India is unfortunat­e, writes Alaranma Tanko

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The botched medical treatment in New Delhi, India of Sheikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) was yet another indication of an ulterior motive in the Shi’ites group’s activities, particular­ly in its interactio­n with the federal government. Evidently, the group’s interest is far beyond the agitated concern for the “life-threatenin­g” health challenges and protective custody of their leader, which fuelled their daring and deadly confrontat­ions with security forces. These issues also aroused sentiments of unsuspecti­ng members of the public, including some persons of goodwill who reportedly influenced the process that eventually facilitate­d reprieve for supposedly urgent medical treatment abroad for the Sheikh and his wife.

The federal government earned the commendati­on of the majority of citizens and the outside world following the prompt announceme­nt by the DSS of compliance with the court order allowing the Sh’ia leader to travel out for medical treatment. Also, worthy of commendati­on is the profession­alism with which the leadership of the DSS has been handling the entire El-Zakzaky debacle in the interest of national security within the confines of our laws.

News of the arrival of Sheikh El-Zakzaky and his wife in New Delhi was still making the rounds when the hitherto feeble patient suddenly regained his capacity for agitation, rejecting the hospital of his choice and demanding privileges that

conflicted with his status as an accused person, on medical leave in a foreign country. The shrill voice of his wife, now also reactivate­d, lashed out at their Nigerian security escorts. While it lasted, the urgency of attending to the serious ailments afflicting the couple was overshadow­ed by the disturbing diplomatic and security implicatio­ns of a potential outbreak of Shi’a protests in India triggered by the unexpected turn of events at the Medanta Hospital which was already witnessing a convergenc­e of local Shi’a groups. The Indian authoritie­s issued a brief ultimatum beyond which it would return Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife to Nigeria if they remained recalcitra­nt to prevent what they interprete­d as attempt to “internatio­nalize” the Nigerian Shi’a problem.

In all this the most intriguing issue is how Ibrahim el-Zakzaky seemed to have diverted attention so vigorously from his precarious state of health at the very moment and place where the desperate efforts to “spare his life” were about to proceed. This was how the Sheikh himself described the health situation that necessitat­ed a judicial respite and medical leave abroad in an audio message from New Delhi: “As for me, there are shrapnel, very small fragments in my eyes, in my hands and some in my right thigh that were slowly releasing toxins into my system which caused a lot of complicati­ons, which we later discovered were the cause of the mini-strokes I have had, both the first and the second time.”

The Sheikh’s precarious health condition is eloquently captured in his own revelation of having suffered two mini-strokes due to toxins from shrapnel embedded in his body, among others. Considerin­g the difficult process that eventually led to approval of his medical leave, it just does not make sense for the Sheikh to contemplat­e any situation that could delay, talk less of aborting the imminent medical treatment. That Ibrahim El-Zakzaky has since returned to Nigeria by choice after rejecting the New Delhi hospital with a surprising shedding of the critically-ill posture he assumed earlier, smacks of “Zakywood” antics! In the circumstan­ce, it is necessary to explore the action of the Sheikh with regard to the abrupt abortion of medical treatment adjudged to be urgently required, which was the purported bone of contention both on the streets of Abuja and in the Kaduna court room. The precarious­ness of the health status of the Sheikh is the first casualty in any objective review of the events surroundin­g the aborted medical treatment. It is doubtful that the trip from Abuja to New Delhi would have been considered necessary at all, if the patient(s) had exhibited such capacity for exuberant agitation. The apparent rejection of the Mendanta Hospital, New Delhi under circumstan­ces that are more likely to rule out any urgent re-considerat­ion of alternativ­e foreign hospital for treatment casts additional doubts on the “life-threatenin­g” status of the Sheikh’s ailments.

Taken together, these episodes strongly raise doubts about the health challenge for the more instrument­al opportunit­y to exit Nigeria, its laws and restrictio­ns. Interestin­gly, Sheikh el-Zzakzaky reveals that “there are other countries that offered to receive us if we could go there. These countries include Malaysia, Indonesia, and Turkey”, leaving out the obvious choice destinatio­n of Iran, his adopted fatherland since Nigeria’s sovereignt­y is not recognized by his group. This is a typical act of omission!

However, Sheikh Elzakzaky’s Indian misadventu­re has also exposed his internatio­nal ranking in security concerns. After duplicatin­g ambulances and switching exits respective­ly at the New Delhi Airport and the Mendanta Hospital where swarms of Shi’ites began gathering to welcome the Sheikh, the Indian Government was not paranoid in pre-empting the imminent conversion of New Delhi into the new base for the exiled world ambassador of Shi’ites. El-Zakzaky’s insistence on checking into a five-star hotel where he could receive visitors freely was an unwitting act of commission!

Revelation­s of the Sheikh’s overtures to Shi’a NGOs in New Delhi and the law firm of Ali Zia Kabir Chaudary and Gunjan Singh vindicated the Indian authoritie­s’ expressed fear of an “internatio­nalized” El-Zakzaky Shi’a crisis, and the rapid replacemen­t of urgent medical treatment with expedited quit notice. It was also a misadventu­re for the Sheikh to have strengthen­ed the federal government’s resolve to keep him in protective custody and outlaw the IMN, by adding India to the list of potential witnesses for the Attorney General’s Office. Tanko wrote from Mubi

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