Sokoto killing: Charges against alleged killers watery —Adegboruwa

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, on Monday knocked authorities in Sokoto State for preferring alleged undercard charges against those accused of killing Deborah Samuel. 

The senior lawyer pointedly accused the state government of going for charges with far less implications, noting that it is the governor, Aminu Tambuwal that is now on trial. 

The state government preferred charges of criminal conspiracy and inciting public disturbances against the accused despite the material facts of the matter, pointing at alleged murder. 

Adegboruwa advised Tambuwal to resign in the statement he titled ‘The conspiracy in Sokoto’, instead of making a mess of the law of the land. 

He said, “There is need for genuine reconciliation in this matter. The criminal charge of criminal conspiracy and inciting public disturbance as framed by the Sokoto State government against hardened murderers is an insult to the sensibilities of the parents of the deceased, the people of Nigeria and God who created Deborah. 

“This crime took place in an enlightened environment in a higher institution, under the watch of security men, who were said to have been overpowered. It all started from a WhatsApp group, which has identified leaders. There are students who sent messages and threats of death on that platform. Their phone numbers are registered with NIN identification. They belong to a class in the school so they are known individuals. 

“Images of persons who openly and boastfully confessed of partaking in the murder abound, with one displaying the match stick with which the deceased was set ablaze. The government of Sokoto State has by these charges shown itself complicit in this whole drama and it is most unfortunate, for a state that is headed by a lawyer, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives and who is aspiring to rule Nigeria as its president. 

ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

• I Will No Longer Demand Money For God’s Blessing — Benny Hinn

• PenCom Directs RSA Holders To Visit PFAs For Data Recapture Exercise

• How Work, Sleep, Phone Usage Cause Spondylosis, Pain In Legs, Arms, Back —Dr Oladiran, Consultant Orthopaedic And Trauma (Hip) Surgeon

“It is most uncharitable of the governor to have condoned this baseless charge. It is better to set the suspects free rather than claim to try them. The aftermath of this gruesome murder, the watery charges filed and the consenting attitude of those concerned have depressed me more than the act itself,” Adegboruwa stated. 

He conveyed his worries about the future of the country while expressing outrage over the alleged complicity of the state, saying “Nigeria cannot work this way at all. I’m truly saddened by this development. I expected the governor as a visitor to that school to have visited the parents of the deceased, who trusted the authorities and sent their ward to school from Niger to Sokoto State, in furtherance of the mantra of a united Nigeria. 

“If the impression we get with all these charges is that the state itself endorsed the murder of the deceased, then we are sowing the seeds of discord and fragmentation,” Adegboruwa noted. 

“The political ambition of Governor Aminu Tambuwal should not override the life of a citizen entrusted to his care but who was murdered in cold blood. It is better for His Excellency to resign now, rather than go down in history as the governor under whose watch a citizen was murdered and the governor could not enforce the laws of the land but rather aided and abetted its cover up. 

“It is Governor Tambuwal who is actually on trial in this case,” he added.