The Leader of Nigeria’s Islamic Movement Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Zakzaky on Wednesday decided to leave India, where he arrived in a day earlier for medical treatment, saying the hospital where he resides in now is just like the detention he was in in Nigeria.
In an exclusive message obtained by Lebanon’s Al-Ahed News, Sheikh Zakzaky said he and his wife decided to return to Nigeria, citing poor medical treatment and high-security pressures in India.
Sheikh Zakzaky elaborated on the health situation of him and his wife, Malama Zeenah, in a 7-minute voice message released and translated by Al-Ahed News.
He said that some problems took place regarding their admission to Medanta hospital, noting that the medical facility was pressured by the US embassy in New Delhi.
He noted that the Indian authorities had prevented people who gathered at the airport and other areas in New Delhi to see him as they changed the route and got into the hospital from a back entrance.
“After we arrived we realized that in this hospital they had carried out a meeting with the hospital staff, the workers from the Nigerian embassy and some security operatives on how to go about things once we are here,” Sheikh Zakzaky said.
“So we saw that we were practically brought to another detention facility which is even stricter than the one we were in back in Nigeria. They came here with police armed with guns and a lot of staff from the Nigerian embassy. And we also noticed we were brought into another detention that we only came based on trust.”
“Due to this, we think that based on everything we have seen so far indicates to us that we are not safe here. We were just brought to another detention,” Sheikh Zakzaky added.
“I have been detained now for a collective total of about 13 years but I have never seen a detention like the one I am in now. Even at the doors they have placed armed police. Even between one room and the other we are not allowed to move. Then I see that even where we were, and of all the times I have been imprisoned in Nigeria, I have not seen anything like this. When I was in an actual prison they used to lock us up around 9pm and open the doors at 7am, and we could move about where ever we wish within the prison facility we were detained in.”
“We would have to return home, after all there are other countries that offered to receive us if we could go there. These countries include Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey, we can convene to decide which one to go to and then go there, God willing,” Sheikh Zakzaky concluded his message.
Source: Al-Ahed news website
