The Department of State Services (DSS), yesterday, said that it has received the order granting Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky leave to travel to India for medical treatment, and has complied with the court order.
\nThe Public Relations Officer of DSS, Mr. Peter Afunanya, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, said that the service was liaising with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the letters of the court order were fully implemented.
\nAfunanya said the DSS released leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, yesterday, following the order of Kaduna High Court.
\nHe said conformity with the order was in line with the service\u2019s avowed commitment to the rule of law inherent in democracy.
\nThe court had ruled that the cleric and his wife be allowed to travel to India for medical attention.
\nEl-Zakzaky and his wife, who were not in court, have been in detention since 2015, following a bloody clash between members of IMN and the military that left scores of his members dead.
\nProtests organised by his members to pressure government to release him recently turned bloody, with scores of his members as well as senior police officer and a reporter with Channels Television killed.
\nGovernment obtained a court order, which designated the IMN as a terrorist organisation and banned its operations.
\nAt the resumed hearing of the bail application filed by El-Zakzaky\u2019s counsel, Femi Falana, in Kaduna, last Monday, the presiding judge, Justice Dairus Khobo, granted the defence counsel\u2019s request for the defendants to proceed to India to seek medical attention.
\nThe court also ruled that El-Zakzaky and his wife be accompanied on the trip by DSS personnel and officials of the state.
\nAs with all precious arraignments, areas close to where the High Court is situated were cordoned off, with police personnel and those of civil defence corps taking strategic positions, while traffic was diverted on some routes.
\nOnly lawyers were allowed into the court premises.
\nAddressing journalists outside the court perimeter gate, the lead prosecution counsel, who is the state Director of Public Prosecution, Dari Bayero, said the judge was satisfied with the medical certificate tendered by El-Zakzaky, and granted him permission to travel to India to seek medical attention.
\nHe said: \u201cThe court granted the defendant permission to seek medical attention under the strict supervision of the prosecution (state).
\n\u2018\u2019The judge said from the medical reports filed by Mallam (El Zakzaky), he is, indeed, in dire need of medical attention. It\u2019s not necessarily bail but he has been granted leave to travel for medical attention.
\n\u2018\u2019The court said when he is discharged by the hospital; he will come back and continue his trial. So, as soon as he is discharged from the hospital, he will come back to the country and continue his trial.
\n\u201cThe court heard the arguments of the counsel and has ruled. We are bound by the ruling of the court.\u201d
\nBayero added that by the ruling of the court, the defendant will go to the hospital in India where he specifically pleaded in his argument and no other country.
\nThe prosecution counsel said his team would study the judgment before taking the next decision on whether to appeal the judgment.
\nAlso speaking with journalists, counsel to El-Zakzaky, Marshal Abubakar, said what the court did was not to grant bail to the defendant but to rule that he should proceed to India to save his life.
\nHe said: \u201cIt was not a bail application. It was an application to save the life of the applicants, El-Zakzaky and his wife.
\nThe judge, Justice Darius, graciously agreed with Mr Femi Falana, SAN, and the various medical reports that were attached to the applications.
\n\u2018\u2019There were eight medical reports that clearly showed the applicants were in dire need of medical treatment abroad. The court agreed that they should be allowed immediate treatment that they sought, with supervision.\u201d
\nHowever, a rights activist and Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice, Barrister Eze Onyekpere has condemned media reports crediting the Department of State Security Services (DSS) for the release of Islamic cleric and Founder of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, Sheikh Ibraheem El-ZakZaky.
\nEl-Zakzaky, who has been in custody since 2015 following a clash involving his followers and the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, in the ancient city of Zaria, secured freedom after a Kaduna High Court granted his wish for medical attention in India.
\nBut reports in some media outfits noted that the DSS had agreed to release the controversial cleric, a development that has been faulted by the activist.
\nAccording to Onyekpere, \u201cThe reports on DSS agreeing to release or have released El-Zakzaky is not only insulting to sensibilities of right thinking person\u2019s but show the impunity of agencies who set up themselves as above the law.
\n\u201cThe Presidency had disobeyed two court orders to release the detainee. And at the peak of the IMN crisis, the Presidency insisted that the matter is no longer within its purview but before the court. So, why are we saying DSS has agreed to release? Do they have any choice after having boxed themselves into a corner?\u201d
\nQuestioning the choice of the word, \u201cagreeing\u201d in the reports, Onyekpere counseled journalists to be diligent in their reports even as he added that barring any twist in the lingering legal tussle, El-Zakzaky would return to the country as he was released temporarily for medical attention.
\n\u201cOur language gives the impression of a conquered people who have submitted to our conquerors. The correct statement is that the court has granted him opportunity to travel, not bail, because DSS and government officials are to follow him on his trip to India and to ensure that he is back after the treatment. This is not bail but an opportunity to get medical treatment,\u201d he added.
\nMeanwhile, Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has described the ruling of the court a victory for truth and justice against tyranny and impunity.
\nIn a statement signed by the Chairman, Free El-Zakzaky Campaign Committee, Abdurrahman Yola, the group said the ruling by the court represented \u201cvictory for our dogged determination, patience, and perseverance in the face of extreme persecution.\u201d
\nThe statement read in part: \u2018\u2019With this recent ruling by the court, we will finalise urgent plans to transfer them to a more appropriate foreign health facility for further expert management as we await the response of the Nigerian government.
\n\u201cAs a peaceful movement, we have kept to our clean tradition of keeping faith with due process in seeking redress through peaceful means without any resort to violence, despite deliberate and persistent provocations by the government.\u201d
\n\u201cWe wish to use this opportunity to also say a big thank you to all people of conscience, particularly some very senior citizens, diplomats, human rights activists and organizations, journalists and the general public who doggedly stood by us in the campaign for justice for the victims of Zaria genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Department of State Services (DSS), yesterday, said that it has received the order granting Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky leave to travel to India for medical treatment, and has complied with the court order. The Public Relations Officer of DSS, Mr. Peter Afunanya, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, said that the service was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":210969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,26],"tags":[688],"class_list":["post-210962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-front-pix","tag-front-pix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=210962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/210969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=210962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=210962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=210962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}