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Tunde Thomas
The Islamic Movement In Nigeria, IMN, has accused the Federal government of frustrating efforts to get comprehensive medical treatment for its leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky in India.
Making the allegation in a statement issued at the weekend, the spokesman of the movement, Ibrahim Musa accused the Federal government of insisting that El-Zakzaky should be treated by a different set of doctors other than the ones he was scheduled to meet in India.
According to him: “On arrival in India, our leader and his wife were forcibly wheeled to a hospital without their personal physician that accompanied them from Nigeria. They were then subjected to physical examination in the absence of the doctors that initially examined them in Nigeria and when they requested for their presence, it was turned down. Another physician that came from London was also denied access to them despite his familiarity with the Sheikh’s case from Nigeria. It was at this point that Sheikh Zakzaky lost confidence in the whole process and refused any further attempt to have him forcibly treated. Following his insistence, he was then forcibly brought back to Nigeria’’.
Ibrahim also accused the Federal government of presenting El-Zakzaky as a dangerous suspect with an unknown ailment to the Indian government, a development he said led to the alleged unprofessional way Indian medical personnel treated him while in the hospital.
Ibrahim further accused the Indian hospital of compromising its independence and medical ethics, by treating El-Zakyzaky , and his wife without obtaining their consent. “It is well within every patient’s right to decide whether or not to be treated and to also decide who attends to his health. It is called giving of consent, which every sane person with capacity is entitled to”, he declared.
While declaring that the IMN will continue with the struggle to ensure that its detained leader gets appropriate medical treatment, Ibrahim said: “It is glaringly clear that the Nigerian government had an ulterior motive it was nursing using its connections in India when it violated court order and interfered with the procedures of the Sheikh’s treatment. This can also be deduced from the way the security agents whisked him away to unknown destination after arrival at Abuja International airport, without allowing him to have audience with the journalists that were waiting for his arrival. As we continue with the struggle, we wish to reiterate our call for the federal government to comply with an earlier Abuja high court ruling that ordered our leader’s release since 2016”.
