The wife of Ibrahim Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Zeenah Ibrahim, has contracted COVID-19, according to a statement by the movement.
Zeenah Ibrahim is in detention along with her husband, Zakzaky at the Kaduna Custodial Center.
Confirming Zeenah’s state of health, the statement, signed by the movement’s spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, complained she “has not been taken to any specialised hospital for such patients to receive proper medical care.”
“We all know that Covid-19 requires an immediate response of urgent adherence to medical advice, more so, Malama Zeenah Ibrahim has been denied treatment for acute medical conditions including severe arthritis of the knee for five years now.
“Yet she is still in Kaduna prison at the moment, yet to be hospitalized, and yet to receive proper health care. Given her underlying medical conditions and age, her infection places her at heightened risk of severe illness and/or death,” the movement added.
The IMN pleaded: “We call upon the well-meaning Nigerians and the international community to prevail on the Federal and Kaduna State Governments to ensure maximum health care for this patient that is in her 60s.”
Zeenah and her husband had in August 2019, travelled to India for medical treatment after a court order granting them bail. But they returned days later after Zakzaky complained about tough security restrictions and a denial of access to doctors who attended to him in Nigeria.
The couple were arrested in 2015 following a confrontation between IMN’s members and the Nigerian Army that led to the extrajudicial killing of over 300 civilians.
They have since been in detention despite a court order in 2016 granting them bail and ordering the Department of State Services (DSS) to pay a fine of N50 million. Their unlawful detention has been challenged by IMN members who have repeatedly taken to the streets in protest for years despite resistance from the police and military.
The couple’s next court hearing, according to the IMN, is on Monday, Jan. 25.
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