Justice Abdul Kafarati, a Judge of the Federal High Court, on Thursday in Abuja threatened to discharge the 24 suspected Boko Haram members standing trial before the court.

The judge, who granted the police a last adjournment for Sept. 18, said that the prosecution counsel had not showed diligence in prosecuting the case.

“I should have discharged the accused persons today but I am compelled by justice to restrain such action and allow the prosecution one last chance.

“The court had adjourned this matter four times at the instance of the prosecutor, who had always promised to bring his witnesses to court but failed each time.

“I shall, therefore, discharge the accused persons should the prosecution fail to bring the witnesses to court on the next adjourned date.

“The prosecution was ordered to avail the accused persons’ lawyers’ proof of evidence.

“It is against the court procedure not to do that a year after the accused persons were arraigned,’’ Kafarati said.

Some of the suspects are Umar Alia 21, Musa Yakubu Gava (38), Awalu Mohd (35), Modu Bama (36), Yakubu Modu Kolibe (15), Mohd Alhaji Modu (23), Badare Hassan (27), Mohd Umar (21) and Mohd Sheriff (23).

The police alleged that the accused, who were facing a five-count charge, conspired to commit felony and act of terrorism in Maiduguri.

The prosecution held that the accused committed an offence punishable under Section 33(1) (b) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2011, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

Thirteen months after the police arraigned the suspects, no witness had been presented.

At the resumed hearing, Mr Bernard Nnamdi, the Counsel to the police, filed an oral application, praying for the adjournment of the case because of the absence of the prosecution witnesses.

The application was jointly opposed to by Kevin Okoro, Mohammed Lucas and Mohammed Ipa, counsel to the accused.

They urged the court to discharge the accused on the grounds of lack of diligent prosecution.

They held that all the adjournments witnessed in the case so far were at the instance of the prosecution counsel.

They further noted that the police was only interested in the detention of the “presumably innocent persons.”

The counsel said that the prosecution had failed to avail the accused with the proof of evidence after over one year of their detention.

They also said that Section 280 of the Criminal Procedure Act empowered the judge to discharge the accused if the prosecutor failed to provide the cause of action. (NAN)

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/06/judge-threatens-to-discharge-24-suspected-boko-haram-members/

This Judge is also boko haram

^^^, I disagree wit u, d Judge is nt any BH, the Police are d BH here!
knowng d court procedures the Police intentionaly want to set d accused free, but with the courts order, and then the Police will shout, we arrestd them but the court set them free!

if truly they are arrested from maduguri,shoot or jail them they are all boko haram.
Which witness are we talking about here?,those that were there when they are bombing and shooting innocent people?
In this case,the police have collected their bribe as well as the judge.case closed.

daz naija for you

cogitoErgo: ^^^, I disagree wit u, d Judge is nt any BH, the Police are d BH here!
knowng d court procedures the Police intentionaly want to set d accused free, but with the courts order, and then the Police will shout, we arrestd them but the court set them free!

cogitoErgo: ^^^, I disagree wit u, d Judge is nt any BH, the Police are d BH here!
knowng d court procedures the Police intentionaly want to set d accused free, but with the courts order, and then the Police will shout, we arrestd them but the court set them free!

cogitoErgo: ^^^, I disagree wit u, d Judge is nt any BH, the Police are d BH here!
knowng d court procedures the Police intentionaly want to set d accused free, but with the courts order, and then the Police will shout, we arrestd them but the court set them free!

. Think d judge even if a bh is nt at fault bt d police.

Some of the suspects are Umar Alia 21, Musa Yakubu Gava (3, Awalu Mohd (35), Modu Bama (36), Yakubu Modu Kolibe (15), Mohd Alhaji Modu (23), Badare Hassan (27), Mohd Umar (21) and Mohd Sheriff (23).

hmmm

police don collect bribe from dis guys,and i can't bet on the integrity of that judge cos he is hausa too.

[quote author=achi4u]if truly they are arrested from maduguri,shoot or jail them they are all boko haram.
Which witness are we talking about here?,those that were there when they are bombing and shooting innocent people?
In this case,the police have collected their bribe as well as the judge.case closed.

daz naija for you[/quote

---

PDP - Power!!

nawah oooooooooo, what happens when these guys are Fred.
its like these people want to increase the number of suicide bombers we have in this country

No, the police is the one goofing big time here. I believe that the judge has tried. He has also given them a long adjournment ie September. The police have had more than enough time to move this matter unless they are acting on orders from above to stall the prosecution of these people. Since we started hearing that the police have been arresting BK, how many have been prosecuted or sent to jail?

Wow a teenager is even among them. You can't blame the judge, the prosecutors should also do their work. Gather enough evidence and witness to put them behind bars for the rest of their life or death by firing squad.

The boko haram may have threntn dis judge dat if dose guyz re put behind barz, dey will cum afta him n kill him. Which kind off country b dis where judge dey fear.

Judge, if you try am, you go pay with your life o.

Mohd Sheriff - 23.

It would sound more of a reality if he was Modu Sheriff - 56.

This is the normal PDP show. Same was done with corruption suspects. The judge dismissed the case.

Terrorists should be tried under martial law because they do not pity the innocent lives when they strike !

U expect d judge to pronounce judgement wen d police has failed to provide a good case against d accused. So d police can't even get a confessional statement from this guys? Where is presocuting lawyers to respond! These BH guys don't hv a defence lawyer meaning wat d hell are d police waiting for? Btw where is sokoto, abu qaqa, thisday kd bomber, kano bh commander? Etc. WHO is this govt afraid of

There is conspiracy in this matter. Let us look at this matter from a triple point of view: the guys if not related are from one family and their sponsor has "greased" the right palms. Secondly, the police should be accused of having collected bribe or have internal sponsors of Boko Haram and thirdly, the judge is also fingered as a willing tool to perpetuate indirect murder and terrorism. He should set a judicial precedent by sentencing them without witnesses because if they were arrested for bombings, then they are guilty.

I stand to be corrected.

Everybody is afraid, the police is afraid,the prosecuting counsel is afraid,the witness they fear to show face,the judge want take cover because nobody wants to be a victim.Even the law does not protect witness.FEAR ALL OVER

Lets be careful here, our police routinely arrest, detain and prosecute innocent Nigerians. Many are even killed and labelled armed robbers. If there is no evidence, you have to let them free. Our security forces need to wake up and stop being lazy! You can't just round up a bunch of people and say they are BH, while the real BH continue to wreak havoc!

Man spends 8 years in prison over N400 - (http://sunnewsonline.com/article/justice-denied)

The judge want to release terrorist after just 1yr.
Nxt time the Senator will be released too and the man that was sentenced 3 months years will be out.

Are we really fighting BH?

seems el rufai was right

This is a HIGH TECH intelligence........those dudes will hav sum microchip inplanted into their body, n d JUDGE will act under instructions to release them for failure of d Prosecution Counsel to provide Evidence against them. They will b traced to their BH cells n it will aid other easy catch.

Afolabs101: Lets be careful here, our police routinely arrest, detain and prosecute innocent Nigerians. Many are even killed and labelled armed robbers. If there is no evidence, you have to let them free. Our security forces need to wake up and stop being lazy! You can't just round up a bunch of people and say they are BH, while the real BH continue to wreak havoc!

Sympathizers of Boko haram are not in any way different from the boko haram themselves.The security forces need to start killing these guys I mean all of them to show that they mean serious business.Who gives a fu*ck about some dormant law when innocents lives are being cut short daily ?

DONT BLAME THE JUDGE,BLAME THE INCOMPETENCE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE AND THE LEGISLATURE...NIGERIA IS A FAILED STATE,THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY AND SENATE ARE BEDEVILED BY CORRUPTION,INSTEAD OF THEM TO ENACT LAWS ACCORDING TO THE PRESENT CHALLENGES OF TERRORISM THEY ARE BUSY FORNICATING IN CORRUPTION,I WISH GBOKO HARAM ATTACKS THEM SO THEY FEEL THE PAINS OF THE VICTIMS-THE LEGISLATIVE ARM SHOULD AMEND THE CONSTITUTION AND PROPOSE DEATH PENALTY FOR ALL ACTS OF TERRORISM,IF NOT NIGERIA WILL TURN INTO A STATE OF ANARCHY AND OUR PRISONS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONTAIN THE AMOUNT OF INSURGENCE AND VIOLENCE THAT WILL CONTINOUSLY THREATEN THE EXISTENCE OF US AS A PEOPLE.THE PRESIDENT IS WEAK,THE LEGISLATURES ARE THIEVES-THE JUDICIARY IS TOOTHLESS-WE THE PEOPLE MUST DEFEND OUR LIVES AND PROPERTY,IT IS A RETURN TO THE NATURAL STATE WHERE THE STRONG LIVES AND THE WEAK DIES.
HOPE YOU GOT URSELF A GUN.

May be the judge's life on the the line.

talk true: Man spends 8 years in prison over N400 - (http://sunnewsonline.com/article/justice-denied)

The judge want to release terrorist after just 1yr.
Nxt time the Senator will be released too and the man that was sentenced 3 months years will be out.

Are we really fighting BH?

This is why I always feel so disappointed anytime they capture any of these boko haramites alive,especially the well known ones that had been declared wanted.Why waste the nations resources feeding the murderers in jail and trial,why not just kill them "during a shootout with the police JTF"

This is where the AGF needs to get the police and other federal prosecutors on their toes to stop deliberately bungling the trials ab initio.Imagine how very demoralising it must be for the officers that may have been wounded or even lost colleagues in their attempt to capture the terrorists,to now leran that the same terrorists have been discharged and acquitted

Diz 'z a criminal law case,not civil...d burden of evidence 'z upon d prosecutor...there 'z a presumption in law dat states dat any person(s) accused of breach of d criminal code 'z assumed 2 be innocent,until d prosecutor proves beyond all reasonable doubt...in diz case,d Judge has adjourned d case for 4 timez...,& dat 'z even too much.

Some of the suspects are Umar Alia 21, Musa Yakubu Gava (3, Awalu Mohd (35), Modu Bama (36), Yakubu Modu Kolibe (15), Mohd Alhaji Modu (23), Badare Hassan (27), Mohd Umar (21) and Mohd Sheriff (23)

These are d real boko haram members, strings are being pulled to take them out of jail..
But in other posts, when u find names of easterners like 'john odia' being boko haram members, then that should really be questionable..
In essence, BH members always have a way out.

the judge the police and the BH members are all boko harams

malele: nawah oooooooooo, what happens when these guys are Fred.
its like these people want to increase the number of suicide bombers we have in this country

dat wuld make 324 suicide bombers in addition 2 d 300 on ground.u c y i advocate jungle justice

If the prosecution is sincere, why arraign these terrorists in a highly polarized place as Abuja? Why not take the case to Lagos? Who can safely testify against boko haramists in Abuja? Crazy people! In the likely event of a discharge of these terrorists , i hereby call on all men of good conscience who have directly or indirectly been victims of boko rams carnage. Let them keep a vigil at the gates of this kangaroo court. Let them make minced meat of these bastards at their first appearance. Let them bring down that so called court , judge and all to tiny rubbles with high calibre explosives. Justice must be served…..hot or cold! If relations of victims of terrorism cannot do this justice to their departed loved ones, then, let them forever bury their heads in silence and shame.

Sanguine77: There is conspiracy in this matter. Let us look at this matter from a triple point of view: the guys if not related are from one family and their sponsor has "greased" the right palms. Secondly, the police should be accused of having collected bribe or have internal sponsors of Boko Haram and thirdly, the judge is also fingered as a willing tool to perpetuate indirect murder and terrorism. He should set a judicial precedent by sentencing them without witnesses because if they were arrested for bombings, then they are guilty.

I stand to be corrected.

the way people jump to asinine conclusions is suprising.what makes you believe they are from the same family?because their names sound similar?how can anyone in his right senses propose that a judge who is sworn to uphold the tenets of the law without fearor favour,set a precedence by sentencing innocent people to prison?yes they are innocent till proven guilty and the onus lies on the police to prove their case and their only weapon is evidence which they seem not to have.the judge has adjourned for almost a year and thats the 4th adjournment.only God knows how long those folks have been in jail ostensibly for a crime they didnt commit.the police is fond of arresting passers-by or innocents so as to put on the farce of been effective.i have witnessed robberies where the police didnt appear till 30minutes after the robbers had gone and when they arrived,they started hounding bystanders into their vans and accusing them of been part of the gang.how sick is that?

Real nations with real leaders know what they do to tackle extraordinary threats to their existence. But naija will not see! Time is overdue to formulate new laws that comprehensively handle terrorism. The menace of terrorism is new, yet we are content with handling the challenges using old laws. Come up with appropiate laws that allow the incarceration of terrorist suspects for as long as five years. Build new dungeons to hobor these people far from their zone of operation and comfort. Are these and other steps too difficult for any purposeful leadership?