14th October, 2016
Mr Kimi Appah, counsel to an 84-year-old man, Muazu Isa accused of serially raping a 10-year-old orphan in Kaduna, on Friday, accused the Nigerian Police of delaying justice to his clients.
Isa, his son, Bashir and grandson, Ya’u were arrigned before a Kaduna Magistrates’Court over alleged serial rape of the girl placed in their care.
Appah, who is also defending Bashir and Ya’u, frowned at the inability of the police to forward the case file to the State Director of Public Prosecution [DPP] for advice.
He said that the police had capitalized on the court’s lack of jurisdiction on the case to perpetually keep his clients in prison custody.
“My Lord, the police is not doing enough to take this case to trial.
“The prosecutor should be telling this honorable court that they have submitted the case file to the Kaduna State Ministry of Justice and not telling us that he is making effort to do so.
“The police slow pace in handling the case is a calculated attempt to delay justice delivery to my clients, particularly that their names have already been smeared by media publicity, “he said.
Appah, therefore, applied that the case be adjourned indefinitely, and if the police failed to do the needful, it should be struck out.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp. Anthony Aluko had applied for adjournment to enable the police conclude its reports and submit it to the DPP for advice.
The Magistrate, Abdulazeez Ibrahim, told the police to hasten up the process, considering the health condition of the second accused.
The magistrate ordered the accused persons to be remanded in prison and adjourned the case to Nov. 14, for further mention.