Zakzaky has been imprisoned at an unknown location without charge since he was detained by security forces in 2015 after the Nigerian army carried out a raid on his residence in the northern town of Zaria during which he lost his left eyesight.
During the raid, Zakzaky’s wife sustained serious wounds too and more than 300 of his followers and three of his sons were killed. Zakzaky’s wife and a large number of the cleric’s followers have also been in custody since then.
In January, Sheikh Zakzaky made his first public appearance since his arrest in footage released by Nigeria’s Department of State Services. It was unclear under what circumstances the Shiite cleric spoke in the footage, which was released after rumors of his death spread on Nigerian social media.