HURIWA Gives Kano State Government Ultimatum On Prosecution Of Killers Of Igbo Woman
Vexed by the silence and non-challant attitude of the Kano state government towards ensuring that the killers of the 72 year old Igbo woman in Kano Mrs. Bridget Agbaghime are effectively prosecuted and punished, the Kano State government has been given 74 hours’ notice to reopen the just bungled prosecution of the five suspects.
A pro-democracy and Non-Governmental Organization- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) said if at the end of the ultimatum the Kano State government still fail to bring to justice the primitive brutes that slaughtered this innocent Igbo woman in the street of Kano, then it will begin global campaign to demand the arrest of Kano State government abroad for trial as perpetrators of crimes against humanity which most continental European nations abhors.
Those who may be blacklisted internationally for failing to bring to trial the killers of this Igbo woman include the governor and other principal officers including the Commissioner for Justice of Kano State.
Besides, the Rights group has done a letter to the President Muhammadu Buhari and principal officers of the National Assembly and the European Union to ask that Kano State government is compelled to quickly bring to trial these killers who were left off the hook criminally by the Kano State government.
In a statement by the National Coordinator comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA submitted as follows: “Murder is the most heinous offence against the person. The offence both from the viewpoint of consequences vis-à-vis sanction is disastrous. It is disastrous in view of the fact that to kill a person, means a complete annihilation of his existence, as well as that of the murderer, if the latter’s act is adjudged to be unlawful or unjustified. Life itself is a divine gift: for God has commanded that “you must not murder.””
“It is in view of this, that the termination of life is universally acknowledged to be the function of the Creator Who gave it. This perhaps, explains why life is considered to be sacred and, the reason behind the contention whether human authorities have the competence to terminate it. The school of thought which supports the contention that human authority can terminate life in appropriate circumstances; have argued that there is no crime of homicide. By this, it is meant that homicide is only unlawful, where it is not justified or authorized by law. This is the purport of section 306 of the Criminal Code (applicable in the Southern States of Nigeria) which provides that “It is unlawful to kill any person unless such killing is authorized or justified by law.”
“This means that the sacrosanct of life, may be breached by sovereign authorities – if to do so would make things even i.e. (for example) that he who kills, must also be killed. The above assertion is enshrined in section 33 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, wherein the right to life is protected, but may be derogated in the interests of private defence of any person or to protect any person from unlawful violence, or for the defence of property, or killing in order to effect a lawful arrest, or killing done for the purpose of suppressing riot, insurrection or mutiny.”
“For all practical purposes, murder is the gravest offence in the criminal law and, in English law; mandatory life imprisonment is now the most severe sentence. In Nigeria, the sentence for murder is death.”
“Section 14(2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended): which specifies that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of the state government.”
“Five suspects arraigned on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Kano over the killing of 74-year-old Bridget Agbahime for alleged blasphemy.”
“A Kano Magistrates’ Court on Thursday discharged all the five suspects, who allegedly killed a trader, Bridget Agbahime in Kano on June 2 over allegations of blasphemy.”
“The suspects, Dauda Ahmed, Abdulmumeen Mustafa, Zubairu Abubakar, Abdullahi Abubakar and Musa Abdullahi were slammed with a four-count charge of allegedly inciting disturbance, culpable homicide, joint act and mischief.”
“Mrs. Agbahime, 74, an Imo indigene, was murdered in Kofar Wambai Market in Kano over alleged blasphemy.”
“The Chief Magistrate, Muhammad Jibril, discharged the five suspects and terminated the case as advised by the attorney-general of Kano State.
The Principal State Counsel, Rabiu Yusuf, representing the attorney-general of Kano State, told the court that they received the case diary from the police on June 8.”
“Having gone through the case diary, the attorney- general of Kano State evaluated the facts in accordance with Sections 130 and150 of the Criminal Procedure Code, presented the legal advice,” Mr. Yusuf said.
“This biased judgement had vindicated its position that there were different laws for different people in the country.”
THE LEGAL IMPLICATIONS ARE
How can a magistrate court which had no jurisdiction to try murder cases could release murder suspects without the connivance of the Kano State government and Attorney General of Kano State? The Jurisdictions of any Magistrates is limited, and no Magistrates/District Court can try murder cases. The Jurisdictions of Magistrates court and Magistrates are contained in the DISTRICT COURT RULES.
THE DISTRICT COURT
The District Court has both criminal and civil jurisdiction.
1) Criminal Jurisdiction
The District Court deals with indictable offences transferred to it from the Magistrates’ Court. Indictable offences are criminal offences triable on indictment before a Judge alone or with a jury. A District Court Judge sits alone without a jury.
The District Court may try all serious criminal cases except murder, manslaughter and rape. The maximum term of imprisonment it can impose is 7 years.
This judgment that was delivered in favour of the killers of Mrs. Bridget Aghanemewho was murdered in broad daylight in Kano state by the Islamic fundamentalist is actually null and void in the first instance, because a Magistrate has no jurisdiction to try or sit on murder cases.
The magistrate and the government of Kano State were instrumental to the killing of an innocent woman who committed no crime against Islam.
“Otherwise, how can a well trained lawyer and a magistrate who attended so many seminars and course release a murderer who snuffed life out of a fellow human being to go scot free? “This is a dangerous signal that nobody is safe again in the country…
The arrest they made before taking them to court was a jamboree just in a bid to deceive the general public and cover their evil agenda against Christians.