El-Zakzaky finally out of Nigeria: hope restored for the Nigerian Shiites

The Shiites, under the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), led by El-Zakzaky, have been strategic of late. Their protest in Abuja three weeks ago was strategically successful. It brought pressure very close to the seat of power on Abuja. It showed that they possessed the key asset for social disruption; people in infinite supply, who they can put in the street at anytime, and they are not afraid to die.

You can kill five hundred of them in Zaria, and hide it. But if you kill one hundred in Abuja, the location of the offices of foreign embassies, the world will take notice. And the world did when last year the Nigerian government brought in the army and there was much killing. That had serious repercussion diplomatically for Nigeria and it endangered well-established military cooperation between Nigeria and its foreign partners.

That was a risk no President would like to take twice. So, three weeks ago, when the Shiites hit the street again, the government was careful not to bring in soldiers. And the police did a poor job of it, losing a Deputy Commissioner of Police in what was a friendly fire. The government finally got the message – that it had to change its approach.

The successful protest in Abuja and the consequential change of attitude by the Federal Government forced a gap between the Federal Government and the Kaduna State Government on how to deal with the Shiites. While Governor El Rufai of Kaduna wanted to maintain the extremely repressive stance, President Buhari knew he had to think of his own legacy.

In the court trial that followed in Kaduna shortly after the riot, the Federal Government, represented by the Department of State Service (DSS), were willing to leave the outcome of the proceedings up to the court. Even though, it was the State High Court, where the Governor could have exerted influence, the pattern of instigating the Federal Government and trusting it to do the job failed. That was why on the 6th of August ruling, the court granted El-Zakzaky leave to travel overseas for medical treatment.

It was after the court ruling was made that the Kaduna State Government realized that the Federal Government had changed its stance. That was when Governor El Rufai tried to undo the order. In an usual development, the Governor tried to impose fresh conditions to that imposed by court on El-Zakzaky. In other words, the Governor of Kaduna State tried to modify a court order.

The Kaduna State government came up with fresh conditions which include the confirmation of his appointment with the hospital by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; an undertaking by the defendants to produce two prominent and reliable persons as sureties, one being a first-class Chief/Emir of national repute and the other a prominent person within Kaduna State, who shall undertake to produce the defendants whenever they are needed. While the Kaduna State government respects the court’s ruling on medical leave, it disagrees with the premises on which it is based.

But the state government had an uphill task in the absence of the support of the Federal Government. The agencies holding El-Zakzaky, and which was to carry out the order of the court were all agencies of the Federal Government. They take their orders from the President, not the Governor. It was therefore possible for them to ignore the rather obnoxious condition being imposed by the Kaduna State Government.

El-Zakzaky left Nigeria on 12th of August 2019 for a court approved medical treatment in India. Though accompanied by Nigerian Government officials, once in India, much of his fate will be subject to Indian laws and International law. There is no doubt that the situation has changed for El-Zakzaky. There is one bad loser in this macabre game of  power – the Governor of Kaduna State.