Ibraheem El-Zakzaky not dead but seriously ill – Femi Falana

The detained leader of the Shia community in Nigeria, Ibraheem al-Zakzaky, is alive but seriously ill, his lawyer has said.

The detained leader of the Shia community in Nigeria, Ibraheem al-Zakzaky, is alive but seriously ill, his lawyer has said.

The lawyer, Femi Falana, was responding to rumours of Sheikh. al-Zakzaky’s death, more than two years after he was detained by the Nigerian government.

Rumours of the death of the leader of the Shia community in Nigeria spread on the social media on Friday, hours after the latest rounds of protests by his followers, demanding his release, held in Abuja.

Sheikh al-Zakzaky and his wife have been detained without trial since December 2015. They sustained gunshot wounds during their arrests, his lawyer said. Mr. Falana said the bullet in Sheikh al-Zakzaky’s wife’s body is yet to be removed. “Clinically he (al-Zakzaky) is not dead yet. But he is very sick,” Mr. Falana said.

A Federal High Court in Abuja in December 2016 ordered the release of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife. The government refused to obey the order.

Members of the Shia community have been staging series of processions across the northern states demanding the release of their leader and his wife.