“I believe in destiny and that all that happened to us was destined by Allah. We don’t want our hands to be amputated because we were unjustly incarcerated over an offence we did not commit”.
These were the words of Nasiru Abubakar, a 25 year old commercial driver, who was incarcerated, with his friend, for allegedly stealing N10,000 belonging to a passenger who boarded his car three years ago.
The Upper Shariah Court 2 Sokoto, presided over by Qadi Dan Tsafe, had in 2010 ruled that the right wrists of Nasiru Abubakar and Anas Mohammed, both commercial drivers, be amputated for allegedly stealing N10,000 belonging to a passenger while on their way from Shagari local government area to Tambuwal.
Since 2010, the two convicts had remained in prison custody without their hands being amputated and did not appeal the judgement because they were unaware that they could appeal the judgment within 30 days then.
Speaking with THISDAY in an emotion laden voice, Abubakar disclosed that as a commercial driver, he usually ferried passengers from Shagari town in Shagari local government area to Tambuwal. He stated that on that fateful day, five passengers boarded his vehicle in Shagari town enroute Tambuwal. Abubakar revealed that while on their way, one of the passengers, an old man raised alarm that he had lost N10,000 and immediately reported the matter to the police which was the beginning of his ordeal.
“I took five passengers from Shagari town heading to Tambuwal but before we could reach our destination, an old man started shouting that his N10,000 had been removed from his pocket and on reaching a police check point, he reported the matter to the police.
“So, we were immediately arrested by the police and taken to the police headquarters in Sokoto where they detained us for 18 days. Thus, we were later taken to the Upper Shariah court and incarcerated without any witness or the complainant appearing in court.
“In fact, since I was imprisoned three years ago, my relatives have not made any effort to bail me or intervene in order to appeal the verdict of the court. I am an orphan as my parents are deceased,”Abubakar said.
However, their issue became known when the state Coordinator, Human Rights, Alhaji Kabiru Dodo, visited the Sokoto Central Prison four weeks ago to supervise a mosque that was being built for the inmates there. Dodo told THISDAY that his attention was drawn by one of the prison officials, who intimited him of the travails of the two young men that were unjustly incarcerated waiting for amputation.
“As I entered the prison last month to supervise a mosque that we are building for inmates, one of the prison officials drew my attention to the case of two young men that were incarcerated three years ago for allegedly stealing N10,000 without any substantial evidence against them.
“So, it was based on humanitarian ground, that I contacted a human rights lawyer Barrister Abdulhamid Zubairu to handle the case and make an appeal for them so that they could escape being amputated. In fact, we realized that some people currently languishing in jail were unjustly imprisoned without any help coming from anywhere,” he stated.
Thus, it was against this backdrop and the quest to save the young men from their hands being amputated in respect to the verdict of the Upper Shariah Court 2 Sokoto, that the human right office in the state decided to intervene in the case.
Subsequently, Human rights activist, Dodo, of the Office of the Special Adviser to the Sokoto State Governor on Human Rights and Donor Agencies, decided to take up the issue and filed an appeal at the Shariah Court of Appeal Sokoto, against the ruling passed by the Upper Shariah Court for the amputation of the convicts.
In his submission in the court recently, the counsel of the two convicts, Barrister Abdulhamid Zubairu, told the court that the the two young men had been in prison for the past three years and as such were not able to appeal the judgment of the Upper Shariah Court. He maintained that the accused persons had the right to make an appeal against the ruling of the court for the amputation of their hands, as it was a constitutional right guaranteed by the 1999 constitution.
“By the dismissal of the appellant’s application to appeal out of time, the Shariah Court of Appeal is attempting to take away the right conferred by the constitution,”he said.
He cited the case of Alhaji Agbebu vs Shehu Bawa 1992 sixth Nigeria weekly law report to buttress his argument and therefore, prayed the court to grant the application to enable him have more time to enter the appeal.
However, the prosecuting counsel, Barrister Ibrahim Adamu, did not object to the application, provided justice would be done to all and case determined on merit. In his ruling, the presiding judge of the Shariah Court of Appeal Sokoto, Qadi Tambari, granted the application and adjourned the case to November 14, 2013 to hear the appeal.
Commenting on the matter, Barrister Abdulhamid Zubairu, told THISDAY that he was determined to do whatever it takes to save the two convicts from their hands being amputated. According to him, with the ruling of the Shariah Court of Appeal, they now have the opportunity to argue the appeal on November 14, as the court had granted the application that would enable the appeal against the ruling of the Upper Shariah Court.
Source: Thisday
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