The suspects, Bilyaminu Aliyu and Aminu Hukunchi, who were involved in the gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, have pleaded not guilty to the allegation levied against them before a Sokoto Chief Magistrate’s Court.
PrimeStar News cannot ascertain the charges against the suspects because it does not have access to their charge sheet but it is gathered that they were not arraigned on a murder case, the reason why the issue on jurisdiction was not raised.
In line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a murder case can only be heard by the high court not the magistrate court.
It was reliably gathered that the suspects were charged with criminal conspiracy and inciting public disturbance which are bailable offences under the Nigerian laws.
Following the bail application on liberal terms moved by Professor Mansur Ibrahim, who led a team of 34 lawyers, the Chief Magistrate adjourned to 18 May 2022 for a ruling.
The bail application was premised on sections 157, 161(a,f) and 164 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Sokoto State, as well as 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
However, The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, in a release signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi demanded severe punishment for the killers of the deceased.
Afenifere condemned in very strong terms, the unprovoked and unwarranted killing of the 200-level student of the Sokoto State-owned tertiary institution.
Also, the Chief Missioner of Nasrul-Lahi-l-Fatih (NASFAT), Imam Abdul-Azeez Onike, yesterday, said Deborah’s extra-judicial killing “is unacceptable in Islam.”
Furthermore, over 300 women organisations and members of the Womanifesto condemned Deborah’s murder, urging the government to declare a state of emergency on the killing of women and girls in the country.
In a release, the former Senate President, Pius Anyin Pius said, “I condemn in the strongest terms, the cruel, gruesome and unlawful killing of Miss Deborah Yakubu in Sokoto State on Thursday, 13th of May, 2022.
“There is no place in a modern democracy such as Nigeria for jungle justice and killing of human beings illegally. Miss Deborah Yakubu deserves to have been put through the full process of the law which has adequate punishment for all offences including the one she was accused of. We cannot afford now to add religious intolerance to the plethora of problems bedeviling our country.
“I, therefore, urge security agencies to carry out a thorough investigation into this ugly incident to bring those responsible for the unlawful murder of a promising Nigerian to justice as soon as possible.”
