Following lack of breakthrough in the impasse that ensued in the treatment in New Delhi of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, it is now confirmed that the Nigerian Shiite leader is on his way back to Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

A report on Thursday night by PRNigeria said that he departed New Delhi in a commercial airline at 5pm Nigerian time.

“In a video message sent through his office, the Sheikh said it was decided that they would be flown back to Nigeria.

“He prayed that may that be the best option in the circumstances,” the report said.

It quoted an unnamed top member of the Islamic Human Right Commission (IHRC) which negotiated the medical treatment in India as saying that the Nigerian government’s interference and scuttling of the whole process rather than supervision as ordered by the court is the direct cause of the impasse.

Meanwhile, El-Zakazy is suffering for lead and cadmium poisoning that may be from shrapnel in his body, his daughter has told the BBC.

El-Zakzaky was among hundreds of people arrested in 2015 after security forces stormed the headquarters of his the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) and killed about 350 people.

He and his wife have been in custody ever since awaiting trial and arrived in India on Monday after being granted leave to seek medical treatment earlier this month.

The sheikh’s daughter Suhaila Zakzaky said that the poisoning may be as result of shrapnel in his body “from when he was shot in 2015 when the Nigerian arm raided our home”.

She added that her father had had an eye operation in Nigeria to remove shrapnel lodged in one of his eyes but his sight had been declining ever since.

Ms Zakzaky told BBC’s Focus on Africa radio she was concerned about his condition:

“I am really worried… especially because of the lead and cadmium poisoning. His doctors say if he gets to a certain level his organs could start failing and that’s really scary because that means he could just die at any moment.”

“This,” according to BBC, “backs up a medical report received by an Indian Shia group offering to pay the IMN leader’s bills at Medanta Hospital. It told the BBC on Wednesday that the sheikh had been diagnosed with lead poisoning.”

It quoted Ms Zakzaky as saying that she had spoken to her father on Wednesday morning and he was unhappy that armed police were outside his room and that he was not able to be treated by his own chosen doctors.

He no longer felt safe and might choose to leave, she said.

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