Kaduna State Government set to appeal El-Zakzaky’s medical bail

The Kaduna State Government is set to file an appeal against the medical bail granted to the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh El-Zakzaky, and his wife, Zeenat on Monday by the state High Court.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Kaduna State, Mr Dari Bayero, confirmed this to The PUNCH on Tuesday. This is coming after the Department of State Services, which had been keeping custody of the couple since 2015, pledged to comply with the court’s order.

Bayero said the government would file the appeal against the decision of the court along with “terms of agreement” for the cleric’s planned foreign trip.

He said, “We are filing an appeal against the decision tomorrow (Wednesday).

“We are also filing along with it terms of agreement on the trip.”

However, El-Zakzaky’s lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), told our correspondent on Tuesday that he was not aware of any terms of the agreement to be filed after the “clear and unambiguous” ruling of the court permitting his clients to embark on the foreign medical trip.

Falana said he would go by the announcement by the DSS to comply fully with the order of the court. He said,

“The authority, the State Security Service, which is keeping the custody of the applicants, has signified its intention to comply fully with the court order. That is where we stand and it is in line with the rule of law. If they are not satisfied with the court’s order they know what to do.”

Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court had on Monday granted an application by the couple for permission to seek “urgent medical treatment at Medanta Hospital, New Delhi, India and to return to Nigeria (for the continuation of trial)  as soon as they are discharged from the hospital.”

The judge directed that the trip must be under the strict supervision of the state government’s officials.