Two of Deborah Samuel's suspected killers have been set free and discharged because the prosecution, that is the police, were always absent

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Two of Deborah Samuel's suspected killers have been set free and discharged because the prosecution, that is the police, were always absent.

Few days after, a Magistrate Court sitting in Sokoto State remanded the two suspects, Bilyaminu Aliyu and Aminu Hukunci arrested in connection with her murder.

During the court proceedings, the suspects pleaded not guilty to the murder of the deceased.

They were subsequently discharged and acquitted by the court. In a five-page court judgement, delivered on January 30, 2023 in the Chief Magistrate Court I Gutwa, Sokoto seen by SaharaReporters, Chief Magistrate Shuaibu Ahmad, Esq set the suspects free due to the absence of the police prosecution during series of hearings.

The charges against them, criminal conspiracy and inciting public disturbance, should have carried a maximum of two-year jail term upon conviction.

The court judgement read, “On the 20/10/2022 this case started denovo due to the transfer and change of the former Chief Magistrate Fatima Hassan. And when the F.I.R was re-read and re-explained to each of the defendants. Each of the defendants denied the contents of the F.I.R as untrue. The prosecution then told and informed this court that the investigations into the case have been completed and they are ready for the hearing of the case. The case was adjourned to 3/11/2022 for hearing.

Her brutal killing over alleged blasphemy was captured on camera and circulated over the internet.

In the videos, her assailants bragged and celebrated ending her life while showing the matchbox from which they drew matchsticks to burn her with.

The Sokoto Police Command, on May 16, four days after the incident, arrested Bilyaminu Aliyu and Aminu Hukunchi, two students of the college, and arraigned them at a Chief Magistrate Court in the Gwiwa area of the state.

What Adejobi kept from the public was that although the police arraigned the suspects before the court, they failed to properly prosecute the matter, and the suspects were released on this ground.

Court documents obtained by FIJ and dated January 30, 2023, confirm that Magistrate Shuaibu Ahmad, who presided over the matter, ruled to set the suspects free after the police made no appearance during trial.

Aliyu and Hukunchi were not standing trial for murder but for criminal conspiracy and inciting public disturbance.

Abdallah informed the court that Musa was also absent from court on December 29, 2022. He said, “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.”