The indigenes lamented the “deteriorating” health of the Zakzakys, warning that the continuous seizure of their passports might spark protests in the nation’s capital.
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja, yesterday, spokesperson for the group, Ayedo Abdul, observed that the couple’s condition was due to the lack of proper medical attention over the years they had spent in detention.
Abdul alleged that the unjust treatment of El-Zakzaky and his wife by the government had not stopped, even with their discharge and acquittal by the Kaduna State High court in July 2021.
He added that more ways were being explored to oppress them.
Abdul said: “It was gathered, through reliable sources, as well as during our visit to his Abuja residence on March 6, 2022, that in the course of the attack on him at his Zaria residence on December 13, 2018, the Nigerian Army burnt the house to rubbles and ashes, killed three of his children and terribly injured the Sheikh and his wife.
“They were shot severally; a shooting that a human being cannot survive. They battered his right side and his left hand. It affected his face and even the eye. Around the head, from the cheek up to the head, about 38 bullet fragments have been counted. His wife has a gunshot in her stomach and her thigh. The wheelchair-bound lady still has one complete bullet in her body, which found its place in her pelvis. Doctors said that they could not remove it here in Nigeria.”
He maintained that continuous seizure of the couple’s travelling documents was in total violation of their rights to freedom of movement and medication as enshrined in the constitution.
“What is happening to her (El-Zakzaky’s wife) health is serious and should attract sympathy. She can neither walk nor stand on her own. She needs surgery, and if the government should refuse them access to quality health care, we don’t know what will happen next,” the group added.
