Mismanagement of Zakzaky’s detention 1

….also published in Daily Trust

Since the detention of the Shiite leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky during the 2015 Army-Shiite clash in Zaria, there has been inexcusable foot-dragging on the part of both the federal and Kaduna state governments in handling his case, which his followers and apologists have capitalized on to not only peddle his supposed innocence but also attract sympathy for him among unsuspecting Nigerians.

Both governments have by so doing inadvertently lent some credence to the claim that he is innocent; and that he and his followers are only being persecuted for being Shiites. Besides, his notoriety of more than three decades of subversive activities, disregard for constituted authorities, harassment and intimidation of the general public, which he had perpetrated with impunity, is being gradually overshadowed through sustained peddling of his plight in detention.

Likewise, outside Nigeria, Iran-sponsored and/or inspired western-based propagandists and apologists masquerading as objective and credible analysts continue to churn out misleading analyses based on grossly distorted information about Zakzaky and his activities in Nigeria. Consequently, and amid inexcusable indifference and the virtual absence of a counter-narrative from the Nigerian government, the Iran-sponsored narrative on Zakzaky-led IMN terror group dominates the global media, which explains the obvious influence of the narrative on the editorial sentiment of many media organizations in the world.

It isn’t unusual, for instance, to learn from an otherwise reputable international media organization that the IMN is non-violent; and that Shiites in Nigeria are being persecuted for being a religious minority.  Besides, I recently read or learnt from one of such media organizations that Kaduna state is a majority-Shiite state. Also, a report I recently read on the BBC Arabic service website claimed that many IMN members are highly educated and occupy top positions in the military, police and intelligence agencies, which “means that the group is only interested in Islamic advancement, not Islamic revolution in Nigeria”, according to one Jacob Zenn who the BBC Arabic introduced as an analyst at the US-based Jamestown Research Foundation.

Yet, the London-based Iran-sponsored so-called human rights group, The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) remains arguably the most notorious foreign source of such propaganda. I felt quite embarrassed when it successfully fooled the Nigerian government with its bogus “foreign doctors” blackmailing trick. To achieve that, it had pushed for and was granted, leave to see Zakzaky in detention. It then arranged a team of Iranian doctors masquerading as neutral foreign doctors assembled from different countries, to see him. After seeing him, and as planned, the team raised a false alarm claiming the need to allow Zakzaky to travel abroad for urgent medical treatment.

The involvement of those so-called “foreign doctors” in the IHRC-masterminded campaign for Zakzaky’s release on the pretext of a bogus urgent need for medical treatment abroad attracted unearned sympathy for him; and with the amount of local and foreign media attention it attracted, it constituted a considerable source of pressure to the Nigerian government. The Iranian government also asked Nigeria to release Zakzaky and transfer him to Iran for medical treatment, as contained in a letter written by its Prosecutor-General, Montazeri.  

By the way, it’s a pity that the IHRC could make a fool of Nigeria using such a simple trick. When the trick was unfolding, I kept wondering what’s particularly sophisticated in it that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the State Security Service (SSS) couldn’t expose. After all, even a casual background check on the IHRC, its sponsors and actual mission would have discredited in the first place, especially also considering its notoriety in supporting Zakzaky’s subversive activities in Nigeria over the years.

Anyway, having inadvertently created their own dilemma through inexcusable mismanagement of Zakzaky’s detention, both the federal and Kaduna state governments are apparently arranging to get rid of Zakzaky by facilitating his departure from the country, knowing that once he leaves there is nothing to guarantee his return anytime soon.

However, this was apparently designed to unfold through a face-saving judicial process at the state level in Kaduna where a high court issued a bizarre order to grant leave to Zakzaky to travel to India for medical treatment accompanied by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) who according to the court’s order should ensure his immediate return once he is done with the treatment.

Also, apparently as part of the face-saving measures, the Kaduna state government made a tactical move by requesting the court to consider some more preconditions before he is allowed to leave, which however never include a request for a stay of execution.

Certainly, no one with even the basic perception of the concept of sovereignty, jurisdiction, international law, diplomatic practices and protocols would fail to realize the utter ridiculousness of the Kaduna high court’s order as it relates to assigning security operatives to accompany Zakzaky to India, and their assigned duties there, which include keeping a close watch over him and escorting him back to Nigeria after his treatment. In reality, this assignment involves international kidnapping, espionage and other capital crimes.  

Besides, even between countries with longstanding diplomatic relation, issues related to security are handled through special bilateral agreements e.g. defence treaty, extradition pact, prisoner exchange agreement etc.

Anyway, the federal and Kaduna state governments would have averted this dilemma if Zakzaky’s trial had been conducted with reasonable promptness, of course without prejudice to all applicable legal and procedural processes.