This archive report was first published on 17 August 2019.
On August 17, 2019, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, the 66-year-old leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), a Shia Muslim group banned in Nigeria, returned home from India after being given an ultimatum by the Indian government to accept offered treatment or return to Nigeria.
Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife, Zenaat, have been in police detention since 2015. In a video posted on Twitter, Sheikh Zakzaky stated that the Indian government gave them only two hours to decide whether to accept the hospital conditions or to go back to Nigeria.
He said they opted to return to Nigeria, adding that they would consider going to other countries if their conditions were met.
Earlier this month, a high court in Abuja granted the couple medical leave on the condition that they must be accompanied by a government security escort.
Sheikh Zakzaky has suffered minor strokes and is losing his sight, according to IMN. His daughter, Suhaila Zakzaky, told the BBC that tests done at Medanta Hospital in India showed he was suffering from lead and cadmium poisoning that might be from shrapnel in his body from when he was shot by the military in 2015.
Sheikh Zakzaky is facing charges of culpable homicide and other offences, all of which he denies. He has also denied that his group, which runs hospitals and schools in some states in northern Nigeria, gets any funding from Iran.
What's Next? ¶
Sheikh Zakzaky is expected to return to the custody of Nigeria's secret police, the DSS, upon his arrival in Abuja.
