(AhlulBayt News Agency) - In a direct appeal to President Buhari the letter highlights the deteriorating condition of Sheikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky who family members say is in severe danger of losing the sight in his remaining eye, MNA reported.
Concerns over the health of Sheikh Zakzaky have been mounting ever since he was shot during a military assault against the IMN in December 2015 in which he lost the use of an arm and one eye.
Since the attack Sheikh Zakzaky has been in the custody of Nigeria's domestic intelligence agency (DSS), detained without charge. Reports from family members now indicate that he is in real danger of losing his sight completely unless he receives urgent medical treatment.
Despite repeated pleas Sheikh Zakzaky has been denied access to suitable medical treatment, something which has aggravated his condition. The most immediate requirement is for him to be seen by a specialist opthalmologist in a well-equipped facility where treatment can be urgently administered if deemed to be necessary. The letter points to President Buhari's own visits to London recently to seek medical care.
"You will no doubt be mindful of the fact that prompt and effective intervention can help secure the best medical outcomes for patients. This is why you yourself have travelled to London to seek medical treatment twice since last June.
Having availed yourself of the opportunity to access specialist treatment it would surely be wrong of you to prevent other Nigerian citizens from doing the same whether that it is inside or outside the country," says the letter.
Sheikh Zakzaky is being held illegally by the DSS in flagrant violation of a recent High Court order demanding his release.
The prominent cleric and his wife were taken into custody on December 14, 2115, after deadly clashes between the supporters of the IMN movement and Nigerian troops.
Nearly 350 members of the Shia movement were killed in the clashes. The sheikh was brutally injured and his house was reportedly destroyed by the army in the incident.
The judge said he had given 45 days for authorities to provide new accommodation for the Zakzaky family. The accommodation is to be in the town of Zaria, Kaduna state, where the family were detained, or in other parts of the state or alternatively any other part of northern Nigeria.
Kolawole said the State Security Service would pay each of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife $78,984 in compensation for the violation of their rights by being held in unlawful custody for nearly a year.
Nearly 100 IMN supporters were killed when Nigerian forces fired live rounds and tear gas at mourners during a peaceful march ahead of the Arbaeen mourning rituals, which mark 40 days after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shia Imam. Authorities also destroyed a number of buildings belonging to the IMN.
The Nigerian government has stepped up its crackdown on the IMN since the December 2015 deadly incident.
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