₦airaland Forum

Wasila Tasiu

The murder trial of 14-year-old child-bride, Wasila Tasiu, will come up for hearing for the first time in a Kano State High Court on August 4, 2014 since the case was transferred from a juvenile court for lack of jurisdiction.

The case was transferred to the higher court on July 4, whipping up a wave of reactions from legal practitioners and the public on why the girl should be tried as an adult.

Tasiu allegedly poisoned her would-be husband, 35-year-old Umar Sani, and three other relations with food laced with rat poison on April 5, 2014 in order to escape her marriage. For this reason, Kano State is seeking the death penalty for the child-bride.

Court documents authorising the transfer of the suit from the juvenile court from which it was earlier being heard reads, “By the power conferred upon the Attorney-General of Kano State of Nigeria under Section 211 (1) (a) (b) and (c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Section 7 of the Criminal Procedure Code Law Cap. 37 Laws of Kano State, which delegate power, I do hereby seek, under Criminal Procedure Code, to charge for trial, Wasila Tasiu.”

Coming at a time when the country is embroiled in anti-child marriage sentiments and the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State, lawyers who spoke with Saturday PUNCH believed the case might be fraught with discrepancies from the beginning.

The charge against Tasiu reads in part, “That you, Wasila Tasiu, 14, of Yansoro Village, Gaya Local Government Council, on or about April 5, 2014, at about 2.30pm at Yansoro Village…did commit culpable homicide punishable by death in that you caused the death of four persons.” The offence is said to be punishable under Section 221 (a) of the Penal Code Laws of Kano State 1990, Cap 105.

Lawyers and activists believe that it was a misnomer for the child-bride to be tried as an adult considering her age.

Lagos lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, was one of the lawyers who felt it was strange under Nigerian laws to try the girl as an adult.

Keyamo said, “Generally, it is not right for the state to try the girl as an adult because she is just 14 years old. I do not know whether there is a particular waiver in the Kano State Penal Code that allows such trial.

“There may be new information regarding the girl’s age that we are not aware of, but generally, it is not right under the law to try her in a high court. Apart from this, there is no circumstance under which the girl should be tried as an adult.”

Adulthood is pegged at the age of 18 and above according to the 1999 Constitution but marriage of girls younger than that age is still relatively popular in northern Nigeria.

Another Lagos lawyer and social commentator, Mr. Malachy Ugwummadu, said Tasiu’s case is not a constitutional issue but a statutory one.

He said the law is clear on crimes committed by minors, adding that he found it strange that the girl’s case was transferred to a high court.

Ugwummadu said, “Children are basically not perceived as being responsible for criminal actions. In cases where children commit a crime, they are either kept in custody pending the time they come of age or they are tried in a juvenile court.

“In cases where a child is kept in custody, such cases are subjected to regular review through the state governor’s prerogative on whether the case against the child still warrants trial.

“It is important to realise that the ramification of most of the crimes in our society these days has correlation with the social malfeasance permitted by culture in some parts of the country.”

The lawyer said the public should take Tasiu’s case seriously because Nigeria may be unwittingly creating another problem for the future that would rival the Boko Haram menace currently facing the country.

For him, the tragedy of the case is the fact that Tasiu would feel abandoned by the society that was supposed to protect her.

Executive Secretary of the Children Anti-Corruption Coalition, Mr. Omololu Akinwande, said the Kano State government and the Federal Government would do the country’s image a lot of good by ensuring Tasiu is not sentenced to death.

According to him, the idea of legalising child marriage was “criminal and unwarranted in the first instance,” one he said showed that many Nigerians have simply chosen to live in the past.

Akinwande said, “The girl is a minor and this case should not be argued that she is mature enough to know the consequences of the act she committed. More importantly, the marriage was commissioned against her wish.

“At her age and without the understanding of the law, she took a decision that she thought was best for her. Even if we argue that ignorance of the law is no excuse, but that can only apply to an adult.”

Akinwande expressed fear that the international backlash that will follow a possible conviction and condemnation of Tasiu may mar Nigeria’s image forever.

However, Chairman of the Kano State branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Ibrahim Nassarawa, told our correspondent on the phone that the fact that the case had been transferred to a high court does not mean Tasiu would be tried as an adult.

He said, “The high court is one with unlimited jurisdiction. It can try anything including cases involving children.

“You have to understand that justice is sometimes better served at the high court than at the magistrate court level because you have more experienced judges.

“There is nothing strange about the girl’s case being transferred to the high court because what matters is the age during the time of commission of the crime.”
http://www.punchng.com/feature/lawyers-activists-fume-over-murder-trial-of-kano-child-bride/