Nigeria: Shia chief speaks for 1st time since arrest

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Nigerian Shia leader Ibrahim el-Zakzaky appeared in a one-minute media interview on Saturday, his first public appearance since he and his wife Zeenat were arrested in 2015 following an army crackdown on his group.

“I am feeling better, the security [officers] have allowed me to see my doctor, my personal doctor. I thank God. I am improving,” el-Zakzaky told reporters in the interview which was apparently arranged by the secret police holding him in an unknown facility in the capital city Abuja.

the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, an umbrella body for the country’s minority Shia led by el-Zakzaky, insists the man is terribly ill, denied access to his doctors and was almost paralyzed from injuries sustained during the 2015 crackdown.

At least 350 Shia members were killed in the onslaught which has elicited criticisms of the army by human rights groups, including Amnesty International.

Earlier this week, rumors of El-Zakzaky’s death ran rampant in Nigeria.