The Kaduna State High Court has granted the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and his wife Zeenatu Zakzaky permission for a medical trip to India.
The IMN leader is expected to visit the Mandeta Hospital, located in New Delhi, India.
The IMN leader, who has been in detention since 2015, had applied for medical bail, citing poor health.
Read Also Kogi Guber: Indigenes reject Bello, demand APC’s direct primaries
He and Zeenat, his wife, were arrested after some of his followers clashed with soldiers in Zaria, Kaduna state.
The government accused the group of not recognising the Nigerian constitution and authority.
El-Zakzaky’s prolonged detention despite several court orders for his release fueled protests by Shiites in Nigeria.
Recent protests by the group have resulted in violence, with a journalist and a police officer killed two weeks ago in Abuja.
It is not clear yet if the government will obey the latest bail and release Mr El-Zakzaky and his wife, who are said to be in very poor health.
Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), had a filed a bail application on behalf of El-Zakzaky and his wife.
Dairus Khobo, the presiding judge, had ordered that the IMN leader and his wife should be allowed to seek treatment abroad but that they should be accompanied by the officials of the Kaduna state government and personnel of the Department of State Security (DSS).
