One of Nigeria’s most prominent Shia Muslim clerics, Sheikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky, has suffered a suspected stroke in police custody.
El-Zakzaky, his wife Mallima Zeenah Ibrahim and hundreds of members of their “Islamic Movement” have been illegally detained in Nigeria for more than two years since the Zaria massacres in December 2015 when hundreds were killed by the army.
Both Sheikh el-Zakzaky and his wife are still injured from the shootings and violence and need treatment.
The Nigerian authorities view Sheikh Zakzaky as a threat due to his non-violent civil disobedience in the face of successive military regimes.
The Islamic Human Rights Commission in London is asking the public to demand the Nigerian authorities to release Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife for urgent medical treatment abroad.
They want people to write to or email the Nigeria President and the Nigerian Ambassador or High Commissioner using this model letter contained in this link.
Last year, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the unconditional release of the cleric and his wife within 45 days.
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The court’s order followed a fundamental right enforcement suit El-Zakzaky filed against the Federal Government.
The court held that the continued detention of the applicant without trial amounted to a gross violation of his constitutionally guaranteed rights.
The court also ordered the construction of a new accommodation for El-Zakzaky’s family in any part of Kaduna State or the Northern region, having dismissed the government’s position that El-Zakzaky and his wife were under “protective custody.”
