Shiites claim El-Zakzaky is dying in detention

– IMN has said that due to deteriorating health El-Zakzaky may soon die in detention
– The group called on federal government to provide immediate treatment for their leader and other Shiites
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has raised alarm over the life of their leader Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Service (DSS) since December last year.
The Punch reports that the Shiites said that the health of their leader is deteriorating as he had been held in “protective custody”.

The group expressed fear that El-Zakzaky might die due to his bad health.
Prof. Abdullahi Danladi, the chairman of the Resource Forum of the IMN, insisted that Shiites leader needed immediate medical attention after injuries he received when members of the group clashed with the Nigeria army in 2015.
Danladi said that El-Zakzaky’s wife and other members were critically injured and were still on different army detention facilities across the north.
He added that El-Zakzaky’s wife had bullets lodged close to her spinal cord, continuing that a doctor had said that an attempt to remove the bullet may lead to her being paralysed.
Danaldi asked the government to release them and others in detention for proper medical treatment.
“With the health condition of the IMN leader, we fear that he may die in detention. Anything can happen to him, ” he stated.
According to him, one of the eyes of El-Zakzaky was in dire need of specialized medical attention.
He added that El-Zakzaky’s left arm where he sustained gunshot wounds was still demobilized and the wounds are yet to heal.

“The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) is deeply concerned about the health of our incarcerated leader and believe that it is in the interest of the Nigerian State and those holding him to release him unconditionally to enable him attend to his heath, ” Danaldi said.
Many people were feared dead after a bloody clash between armed soldiers and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria in Zaria, Kaduna state on December 13-14, 2015.
The military claimed that it had responded to the Shia followers’ attempt to kill the Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai. But this claim has been strongly denied by the Shiites and several human rights organizations who argue that the attack was pre-planned.