Nigerian Shiite leader granted bail for medical care abroad

A Nigerian court on Monday granted bail to a detained Shiite leader and his wife to fly to India for medical care, in a move that could defuse tensions after his group was banned following a spate of bloody protests.

Ibrahim Zakzaky, the founder of the pro-Iranian Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), has been in custody along with his wife Zeenah Ibrahim since their arrest in December 2015.

The judge in the northern city of Kaduna "ordered that Zakzaky be flown to India for proper medical attention", lawyer Femi Falana told AFP.

Another member of the defence team said his wife was also allowed abroad for treatment.

The government late last month outlawed the IMN on "terrorism" grounds after protests demanding Zakzaky's release descended into bloodshed.

Zakzaky's daughter Suhailah told AFP the ruling was "good news" but said she was still waiting to find out the conditions of his bail.

The authorities have previously ignored a court order to release the IMN leader.

Prosecutors said officials were studying the latest decision to see whether to appeal.

One of Zakzaky's lawyers Haruna Magashi said the court had ruled the cleric, believed to be in his mid-sixties, could fly for treatment under government supervision.

His legal team were confident the decision would not be overturned and the couple could leave Nigeria "as early as this week", Magashi said.

Zakzaky was arrested in 2015 after violence that rights groups say saw the army kill some 350 of his followers and bury many in mass graves.

Supporters have been holding almost daily protests in the capital Abuja pushing for his release amid fears over his deteriorating health.

At least eight people, including six protesters, a senior police officer and a trainee journalist, were killed during protests on July 22. The IMN said 20 of its members were shot dead.

The Shiite leader and his wife did not attend Monday's hearing in Kaduna because of their poor health.

"They were too sick to be physically present in court," Falana told AFP.

Zakzaky's lawyers say he has lost the sight in one eye and was on the verge of going blind in the other, while he had some bullet fragments lodged in his body from the 2015 crackdown.

A court in 2016 ordered the release of Zakzaky and his wife -- but the authorities refused and filed charges against him including homicide.

Zakzaky and the IMN, which was founded as a student group in the 1970s, have been at loggerheads with the government for years because of his call for an Iranian-style Islamic revolution in Nigeria.

In the wake of the ban the country's police chief last week labelled anyone associated with the group an "enemy of the state" and called on the public to help track down its members.

Human Rights Watch called on the authorities to reverse the decision and warned that it could "portend an even worse security force crackdown".

Shiites make up a small minority in predominantly Sunni Muslim northern Nigeria, but estimates still put their numbers at around four million.