DEBORAH: Police PRO Reverses Self On Prosecution of Suspects

The spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, Muyiwa Adejobi has retracted his earlier statement on the development surrounding the prosecution of late Deborah Yakubu’s suspected killers who were arrested and arraigned in 2022…..CONTINUE READING...CONTINUE READING

On Thursday, Adejobi reacted to a stir on Twitter by Nigerians demanding an update on the investigation of the police concerning the death of Deborah.

The second-year college student was lynched by her colleagues in school over alleged blasphemy in Sokoto State on May 12, 2022.

The Police spokesperson while issuing an update, revealed in a tweet that the two suspects had been arrested, and subsequently arraigned at the Chief Magistrate Court Gwiwa in Sokoto on May 16.

Adejobi revealed their identities as: Bilyaminu Aliyu and Aminu Hukunchi, but the update however angered Nigerians who demanded the pictures of the suspects, and the video of them heading into the court.

Some Nigerians had further revealed the fact that the suspects were dismissed earlier in the year by the Chief Magistrate, Shuaibu Ahmad.

The ruling of the court dated January 2023 had also surfaced on Twitter, featuring the proceedings of the court on the day the case struck out.

It read partly: “On 29/12/2022 last year this case was adjourned to today 30/1/2023 for hearing due to the absence of the prosecution without any reason.

“Today also the prosecution are absent without any reason. In the circumstances, we wish to apply to this court to strike this case and discharged the defendants as provided under S. 350(1) of the ACJL of Sokoto State 2019 which deals with situations of none appearance of the complainant during the trial.

“Since the arraignment of the defendants in May 2022 last year. There was never a time the defendants failed to come to the court for their trial.

“But on the contrary, the prosecution are always absent. And where they are present, they are always not serious in prosecuting this case. So, we urged the court to strike out this case and discharged the defendants in the interest of justice and in accordance with the law,” the defendant said early in January”.

On Friday, the Police Spokesperson reversed his statement in a series of short tweets saying:

“On Deborah, I only updated Nigerians based on the brief I got from Sokoto command. However, I have called the attention of the new CP Sokoto to the new development on the case for further action.

“I have also directed the PPRO Sokoto to regularly update Nigerians on the case. Thanks…..CONTINUE READING