The son of Ibraheem El-Zakzaky -the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) – says that his mother Zeenat needs to be hospitalised after contracting COVID-19 in the prison in Kaduna.
Zeenat and her husband El-Zakzaky have been in prison since 2015 after members of the military had a confrontation with members of the IMN.
El-Zakzaky’s son Mohammed said that it was discovered that his mother had contracted the virus during a routine visit by his parents’ doctors.
He noted that his mother had been denied treatment for acute medical conditions for years.
He said, “Six days ago, after a routine visit to the Kaduna State prison by my parents’ doctors, my mother complained of fatigue, fever and a complete loss of the ability to smell.
“The doctors decided to carry out a number of standard tests in order to understand what the problem was. Among the tests that were carried out was a test for the novel coronavirus.
“This was a routine procedure and it is important to state that she has been denied treatment for acute medical conditions, including severe arthritis of the knee for years now.
“Meanwhile, the COVID-19 test came back positive. I imagined that due to the diligent way in which the prison management had been conducting and managing the facility, a COVID-19 outbreak would be extremely unlikely.
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“But once I heard of the test result, my first action was to ensure that it was tried, tested and confirmed. I expected that following our risky entrance into the predictable petri dish of Kaduna State prison for what it is, the person in charge of Kaduna State prison would officially do his job and inform the State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and the chain of command that the current campaign of torture, extortion, corruption and murder has come to this and my mother, Zeenah Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, needs to be immediately hospitalised.
“My mother is still in Kaduna prison at the moment, yet to be hospitalised and to receive proper health care.”
On July 25, 2014, 35 members of the IMN were shot by the Nigerian Army, including three of El-Zakzaky’s sons.
He is detained over criminal charges that include disruption of public peace and culpable homicide.
