The trial of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria otherwise known as ‘Shi’ites’, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, and wife, Zeenat began at the Kaduna State High Court on Monday.
At the resumed hearing, the leader of the Shi’ite and wife were absent at the court.
But the court ordered the authorities to as a matter of urgency treat wife of the embattled leader of the IMN, Zeenat for COVID-19.
Members of the IMN had last week renewed calls for the release of El-Zakzaky and his wife, claiming that Elzakzaky’s wife had tested positive for COVID-19 inside the Kaduna correctional facility where they are being detained since 2015.
The presiding judge, Justice Gideon Kurada, gave the order during the secret trial of the Shi’ite leader and the wife.
The prosecution and the defence counsels, Chris Umar and Femi Falana (SAN), confirmed to newsmen shortly after the court session that Zeenat tested positive for coronavirus.
According to Falana, the legal team of the IMN leader and wife has presented the results of the test before the court and applied that Zeenat, the second defendant in the trial, who tested positive for the virus for more than one week now is availed with proper medical facility to get treatment.
He said the medical facility at the Kaduna correctional centre did not have the facilities to treat the virus.
Falana said, “Today, at the resumed trial of the client case, the prosecution brought four witnesses, including a medical doctor, who testified before the court.
“But we also applied to the court; we drew the attention of the court on behalf of our clients to the fact that the wife of our client Zeenat had tested positive for the dangerous COVID-19 pandemic and she is being treated in the medical centre of the correctional facility.”
Umar (prosecution counsel), however, said that the prosecution team would review the case as the trial continued to ensure that relevant evidence were presented on the role of defendants during the operation that lasted between the 12th and the 14th of December 2015.
