One month after the Kaduna State High Court acquitted and discharged the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibraheem El- Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat Ibrahim, have been denied their international passports to seek medical care abroad.

This was made known in a statement issued on Friday by Ibrahim Musa, the President Media Forum of the group.

Musa stated that the medical records of the couple show that they both suffer from deteriorating health conditions and ought to have sought medical assistance outside the country.

He noted that they are seemingly being held back by some powerful persons in government who are holding on to the international passports of the couple.

The statement reads partly, “Four weeks after being discharged and acquitted by a Kaduna State High Court, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, and his wife, Malama Zeenah Ibrahim, are yet to travel abroad for medical treatment as their international passports are still being held by security agencies and a new one has not been issued to them.

“Both the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department of State Security (DSS) have denied being in possession of the international passports of the couple.

“It is a known fact, however, that during the botched medical trip to India as granted by the Kaduna High Court, their international travel documents were promptly seized on arrival by these security agencies. Thus, who did they hand over to? That wasn’t too long ago not to remember or know.

“Were these international passports handed over to certain powerful persons in government, as is being speculated, who are using their powers and influence to further detain the Sheikh and his wife thereby denying them the freedom granted by the Nation’s courts? We hope this is not another evil machination of those in the corridors of power in Nigeria to deny the couple access to medical treatment.

“We wish to remind the general public that for the past almost six years, medical reports have indicated that their health condition has deteriorated and as such needed to travel overseas for treatment. That was the basis for the Kaduna state high court granting them medical leave which was later scuttled by the government in 2018.

“Muslim brothers and sisters of the Islamic Movement and other lovers of justice across the world are getting agitated once again because of these obnoxious developments including what appears to be placing the duo under house arrest by Buhari regime.

“Hence, we call on the international community to prevail on the government to release the passports of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife. We urge the Federal Government to release their passports to them or issue new ones to them, which will enable them to travel to the hospital of their choice without any further delay.”

Justice Gideon Kurada of the Kaduna State High Court acquitted and discharged the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and his wife, Zeenat Ibrahim who have been standing trial in the court for the past four years.

El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, had stood trial on eight counts bordering on alleged culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, disruption of the public peace, among others.

The couple has been in detention since 2015, after IMN supporters clashed with soldiers in Zaria, Kaduna.

SR