Ibrahim Elzakzaky, leader of the Shiite Islamic group in Nigeria, and wife, Malamah Zeenah have been discharged and acquitted by a Kaduna High Court at a sitting on Wednesday, according to the Facebook page of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria.

The cleric, who was arrested in 2015 following a siege on his Zaria home by soldiers, spent six years in custody owing to government’s refusal to honor a court rule granting him bail.

The couple was charged on eight counts bordering on alleged homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of public peace, among others.

In one of the hearings, the Kaduna State government, which is the prosecution in the case, assembled over 20 witnesses, including personnel of the Nigerian Army and Police, to give evidence against the couple.