The Kaduna state attorney general, Aisha Dikko, has said that the fate of Malam Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader of the proscribed Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), is in the hands of the court.
The commissioner further stated that the ongoing legal processes should not be the subject of a media campaign or pressure of any kind, affirming that the Kaduna State government has no intention to withdraw the charges and would rather leave it to the court to decide the case.
In a statement yesterday, the attorney-general said that both El- Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, ‘’are facing an eight-count charge, including culpable homicide, punishable with death, before the High Court of Kaduna State.’’
She said that the court had earlier refused the accused persons’ application for bail following their arraignment in August 2018.
According to the attorney-general, ‘’it is the high court that will decide the case, and the rule of law demands respect for the prerogatives of the court and the ongoing legal process.’’
Dikko, therefore, warned against any attempt to reprise the media frenzy that stampeded some officials to whisk the El-Zakzakys to New Delhi without waiting for the court to determine the specific conditions for the medical leave granted to the couple.
She said she hoped that all parties have learned the necessary lessons from the debacle that the New Delhi trip became.
Dikko pointed out that ‘’like any other person facing a criminal trial, Malam Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and Malama Zeenat Ibrahim have been accorded due process and are being represented by their lawyers.’’
The Commissioner for Justice, who maintained that ‘’there is no court order pending against the Kaduna State Government on the matter and that rulings and orders that were secured against the Federal Government do not have any bearing against the Kaduna State Government which was not a party to those proceedings and against whom no orders were made,’’ said: ‘’Any issue regarding compliance or non-compliance with a court order by the Department of State Services (DSS) or the Federal Government cannot be used to vitiate the judicial proceedings the Kaduna State Government has commenced against the El-Zakzakys.’’
She said that other accused persons charged to court, including Yakubu Yahaya Katsina and Sanusi Abdulkadir Koki, were also charged with alleged wrongful restraint, disturbance of public peace and voluntarily causing grievous hurt as well as inciting disturbance, and breach of public peace.
