The Kaduna State government has called for stiff conditions to be attached to the foreign medical treatment granted Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, by the State High Court to ensure their return after treatment to continue with their trial.
On Monday, Justice Darius Khobo of the State High Court granted the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) leader and his wife leave to seek medical treatment at the Medanta Hospital, India.
The Department of State Services (DDS) also stated its readiness to comply with the court’s directives.
But the state government, which sued Zakzaky and his wife for culpable homicide, said it had sought seven measures that would ensure that the defendants do not become asylum seekers in India.
The Nasir El-Rufai administration prayed that the court makes El-Zakzaky, his wife and each of the other defendants produce two prominent sureties, including a first-class chief or emir to qualify for the foreign medical trip.
The government, which expressed its displeasure at the terms of the medical leave, added: “While the Kaduna State government respects the court’s ruling on medical leave, it disagrees with the premises on which it is based. Therefore, an appeal will be lodged on the matter, but a stay of execution will not be sought as the state government believes that a person may choose to travel abroad for any medical condition at his own cost.”
A statement yesterday by the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, reads: “In compliance with the court ruling, the Kaduna State government has filed at the Kaduna State High Court terms for strict supervision of the medical leave, as follows:
Read Also: El-Zakzaky, wife released to travel for medicare
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria shall confirm the appointments of the defendants/applicants with the Medanta Hospital, India, and undertake all necessary diplomatic arrangements and protocol to ensure compliance with the conditions of the medical leave.
“Each of the defendants/applicants shall undertake to return to Nigeria to continue their trial as soon as they are discharged from the hospital, and shall also be responsible for the cost of their travel, treatment and living expenses while on their medical leave.
“Each of the defendants/applicants shall produce two prominent and reliable persons as sureties, one being a first-class chief/emir of national repute and the other a prominent person within Kaduna State who shall undertake to produce the defendants whenever they are needed. The sureties must also produce evidence of landed property within Kaduna State.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria shall obtain from the Government of India an irrevocable guarantee that it will not entertain any application by the defendants/applicants or any third party seeking asylum under any guise or conferring the status of political prisoners or any other status aside from being medical patients on the defendants/applicants and shall also restrain the defendants/applicants from any act inimical to the corporate existence of Nigeria.
“Each of the defendants/applicants shall undertake in writing, endorsed by their counsel, that while on medical treatment in India, they shall do nothing to jeopardise the ongoing trial, the peace and security of Nigeria and the laws of the Republic of India in whatever form.
“Security agents of the Federal Government of Nigeria shall escort the defendants/applicants and remain with them throughout the duration of their treatment in India and thereafter shall return with them after their discharge from the hospital. The Nigerian High Commission in India shall undertake prior vetting and grant consent before any visitor has access to the defendants/applicants while in the Republic of India.
“Many of these terms of supervision depend for their actualisation on actions by the Federal Government of Nigeria which is the sovereign power vested with the constitutional responsibility for foreign affairs.”
Reacting last night to the statement by Kaduna State government, rights activist and lawyer to the IMN leader, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) said: “I thought that the Kaduna State government had planned to appeal against the order of the Honourable Darius Khobo granting leave to the El-Zakzakys to travel to India for urgent medical treatment under the supervision of the government.
“I hope that the plan to pursue an appeal in the case has been shelved as the Court of Appeal has ruled that you cannot stay the execution of orders of this nature. That remains the position of the law as espoused in the case of Mowarin v Nigerian Army, which was decided under a military dictatorship in the country.
“The so-called agreement is totally alien to the penal code and the administration of criminal justice law of Kaduna State. Hence, the agreement is not brought under any substantive or adjectival law.
“My colleagues in the Ministry of Justice are not unaware of the position of the law that an agreement cannot vary or modify the order of a competent court. It is unfortunate that some highly placed public officers are so hell bent on abrogating the fundamental rights which have been fought for and won by Nigerians, even under the British colonial regime.
“For instance, the Prison Ordinance was amended in 1917 to allow the family members or friends of prison inmates to remove them from prison and take them out for medical treatment, if the prison facilities could not cater for any terminal illness. That provision has been incorporated in Regulation 12 made pursuant to the Prisons Act.
“In this instant case, the court did not release the El-Zakzakys to their family members but that they should be treated in a foreign hospital under the supervision of the government.
“Since the Department of Service Services (DSS), which has the custody of the El-Zakzakys, has announced on behalf of the Federal Government that the court order would be obeyed, the so-called terms of “agreements” of the Kaduna State government should be ignored because it is the height of provocative contempt.
“It takes two to tango. A party in a case cannot dream of some weird ideas, parade them as an agreement and impose same on a court and the other parties.”
On 19th April 2018, the Kaduna state government filed an eight-count charge against Malam Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, Mallama Zeenah Ibrahim, Yakubu Yahaya Katsina and Sanusi Abdulkadir Koki for the offenses of:
Criminal Conspiracy, Culpable Homicide punishable with death, Unlawful Assembly, Wrongful restraint, Disturbance of public peace, Voluntarily causing grievous hurt, Inciting disturbance and Breach of Public Peace.
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