Sheikh el-Zakzaky: partially blind in detention for close to 4months

It is now crystal clear why the Directorate of State Services has kept the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim El Zakzaky incommunicado since 13 December: the man is partially blind.

His lawyer,  Femi Falana, Nigeria’s leading human rights lawyer said  medical doctors are currently battling to save Zakzaky’s  right  eye. The left eye is irreparably damaged.

In a letter to the DSS demanding Mr. El-Zakzaky’s immediate release, Mr. Falana said armed soldiers shot at Mr. El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, “several times.”

“As a result of the brutal attack, Sheikh Zakzaky lost his left eye while doctors are currently battling to save the right one,” said Mr. Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria.

“To compound the physical pain and mental anguish that our clients were subjected to in the circumstance, the Nigeria Police Force and State Security Service have held them incommunicado for the past three and half months.”

The El-Zakzakys have been in detention since December last year, after a violent clash between members of the Shi’ite sect and the Nigerian army.

On December 12, armed soldiers clashed with members of the sect at Zaria, Kaduna, after the latter allegedly blocked the passage of the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai.

The next day, the soldiers returned to unleash more violence on the sect members.

In January, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Mr. El-Zakzaky’s group, said their leader and his wife were recuperating from gunshot wounds‎ at an undisclosed location in Abuja.

Mr. Falana said a similar incident in 2014 resulted in a detachment of the Nigerian Army killing three of Mr. El-Zakzaky’s children.

“The report of the fact-finding Commission of Enquiry set up by the government has not seen the light of day,” he said.

*Published by Premium Times