TheCable

Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), has expressed the hope that his return to Nigeria is for the best.

In a video said to have been recorded before the cleric boarded his return flight to Nigeria, El-Zakzaky said he was informed earlier that he and his wife would have to leave the Asian country.

“You have already heard the messages regarding the ultimatum we were given of either we agree to be treated here on their terms or return home,” he said in Hausa.

“So a bit earlier they came here as inform us that they have decided to take us back to Nigeria. And now it is almost 10pm (Indian time) and they have said they will come at 11:30 to take us to the airport in order to take us back to Abuja, this is what they have decided.

“And they have sent government representatives here to inform us of that… In sha Allah we will embark on the journey back home. We hope this will be for the best.”

In a statement, Ibrahim Musa, spokesman of the movement, accused the federal government of frustrating the treatment of the IMN leader in India.

“The Nigerian government’s interference and scuttling of the whole process rather than supervision as ordered by the court is the direct cause of the impasse. The government never wanted the medical leave in the first place, and did whatever to stop it by all means possible,” Musa had said.

El-Zakzaky had earlier raised the alarm over the situation in India, saying it was worse than what he and his wife experienced in Nigeria.

In an audio tape that went viral on Wednesday, he had said he was being re-detained under heavy security, expressing the desire to return home.

El-Zakzaky said he was not given access to his preferred doctors, adding that he did not trust those they asked to examine him.

But the federal government had dismissed his claim, accusing him of not complying with the terms of the Kaduna high court which granted him medical leave.