As the controversy rages over why the leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky remains in detention, the Attorney General of Kaduna state, Aisha Dikko said it is the court that ordered his incarceration.
The Kaduna state commissioner for justice clarified Thursday that the fate of the leader of the ‘proscribed IMN is in the hands of the court.’ She further stated that the ongoing legal processes should not be the subject of a media campaign or pressure of any kind, adding that the Kaduna state government has no intention to withdraw the charges and would rather leave it to the court to decide the case.
In a statement she issued Thursday, the Attorney General said both el-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat are facing an eight-count charge, including culpable homicide punishable with death, before the High Court of Kaduna state. The court had earlier refused the accused persons’ application for bail following their arraignment in August 2018.
The statement read in part: “At its last sitting on 5th December 2019, the court adjourned hearing in the matter to 6th February 2020, and ordered the transfer of the couple from DSS facilities to the Kaduna Correctional Centre for duration of the trial. It is the High Court that will decide the case, and the rule of law demands respect for the prerogatives of the court and the ongoing legal process.’’
Hajiya Dikko warned against any attempt to reprise the media frenzy that stampeded some officials to whisk the El-Zakzakys to New Delhi without waiting for the court to determine the specific conditions for the medical leave granted to the couple. She expressed the hoped that all parties learnt the necessary lessons from the debacle that the New Delhi trip became.
Dikko stated that: “Malam Ibrahim el-Zakzaky and Malama Zeenat Ibrahim have been accorded due process and are being represented by their lawyers. There is no court order pending against the Kaduna state government on the matter. Rulings and orders secured against the federal government do not have any bearing against the Kaduna state government which was not a party to those proceedings and against whom no orders were made.
‘’Any issues regarding compliance or non-compliance with a court order by the DSS or the federal government cannot be used to vitiate the judicial proceedings the Kaduna state government has commenced against the el-Zakzakys,’’ she argued.
The statement noted that el Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, Yakubu Yahaya Katsina and Sanusi Abdulkadir Koki were charged to court on eight-count charge on April 19, 2018, for alleged criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide punishable with death and unlawful assembly.
The accused were also charged with alleged wrongful restraint, disturbance of public peace and voluntarily causing grievous hurt as well as inciting disturbance, and breach of public peace, the commissioner added.
