HURIWA TO GOV. TAMBUWAL, SOKOTO COLLEGE MANAGEMENT: YOU HAVE BLOOD OF DEBORAH IN YOUR HANDS

… Carpets President Muhammadu Buhari’s conspiratorial silence on the STONE AGE BARBARIC MURDER OF DEBORAH SAMUEL YAKUBU

Frontline Civil rights advocacy group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has condemned the conspiratorial silence for over 24 hours of President Muhammadu Buhari over the brutal hacking to death of a 200 level Christian Student of the Sokoto College of Education Miss  Deborah Samuel Yakubu by Islamic extremists in the school over alleged blasphemy.

Warning that reprisals may become inevitable  if the case of murder of Deborah in Sokoto is swept under the carpets like similar cases of murders of Christians over alleged blasphemy  by Islamists in Kubwa Abuja and twice in Kano State, the Rights group told Sokoto state governor Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal and the hierarchy of the ill fated school that the blood of the innocent Christian girl murdered in broad daylight is on their heads and generations unborn won’t forgive them for seemingly ominous inaction. HURIWA is by this statesman urging that the strongest deterrent action provided by law is applied against these killers of Deborah who are even captured on video recordings or else the Federal Government has unwittingly authorised that reprisals should occur and these violence will do Nigeria no good because religious violence could lead to a civil war. 

“HURIWA is very much aware, that President Muhammadu Buhari did not mince words to condemn Indigenous Peoples of Biafra(IPOB) even without any scientific evidence linking them remotely or otherwise to the gruesome and despicable beheading of the soldiers’ couple massacred by unknown gunmen reportedly on their way to a traditional wedding in the South East of Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari even gave order that the killers be hunted down and dealt with decisively by military forces.”

HURIWA continued thus: “President Muhammadu Buhari did this aforementioned hurried but generally hasty reaction because the perceived or suspected killers are Igbos, an Ethnicity that his administration has treated with the short end of the stick for not voting for him in 2015 and 2019. But since over 28 hours that a Christian student of the Sokoto College of Education Deborah Samuel Yakubu was lynched by Islamic students for alleged blasphemy, President Muhammadu Buhari has maintained conspiratorial silence as if the innocent blood that was shed by the Extremists is not that of a human being. This same hypocrisy of conspiratorial silence was noticed with the Sokoto State governor who stayed away from taking action but secretly sent his commissioner for higher education to speak on the murder. We in HURIWA want to let him Tambuwal and Buhari know that so long as there is no justice for this murdered Martyr Miss Deborah Yakubu, her innocent blood is on their heads”. 

HURIWA condemned the  management of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto for standing by and for doing next to nothing whilst the riotous Islamic extremists within the students body descended on their fellow Students and killed her like a chicken but only made timid announcement of the so-called indefinite closure of the institution after a female student was reportedly killed for alleged blasphemy.

HURIWA said it is preposterous that the late student, believed to be a Christian, was stoned to death and burnt just because she was reportedly  said to have attributed her academic excellence to Jesus and rankled by her response, she was asked to withdraw the statement — to which she refused even as her refusal to apologise made the mob attack her and then set her body ablaze. The Rights group wondered when Sokoto has become an Islamic State when section 10 of the Constitution recognises Nigeria as a SECULAR STATE whereby no RELIGION IS A STATE RELIGION.”

HURIWA quoted a source as stating that “She (Deboraj Yakubu Samuel) was having an argument with some of her schoolmates over their ongoing examination and when she was asked how she managed to pass her exams, she said it was Jesus,” the source was quoted as saying. “She was asked to withdraw the statement and apologise which she refused. “The school security intervened, and took her to their post but they were overpowered by students after which she was killed in the process. After killing her, her body was burnt on the school premises.” Reacting to the incident, the college directed all students to vacate its campus immediately.

The college said thus: “Following today’s early morning Students rampage in the college, the college management has resolved to close down the college indefinitely with immediate effect. Consequently, all students are hereby directed to vacate the College campus immediately (12th may, 2022),” the statement read.

HURIWA in a statement by Conrade Emmanuel Onwubiko its National Coordinator however blamed the management for not adequately providing her security by failing to call for police and military beef up but simply sacrificed the Christian Student at the altar of religious extremism and hypocrisy. 

HURIWA said religious pluralism and freedoms have suffered organised criminal attacks since President Muhammadu Buhari who before he won election in 2015 supported the introduction of full shariah law in Northern Nigeria, became President but nobody who killed Christian has ever been known to have been punished in accordance with the law of Nigeria thus creating the impression that the laws of Nigeria are not meant to be effective in the core Moslem North. 

HURIWA condemned the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for reportedly debunking his initial condemnation of the dastardly act of killing by the Extremists of Deborah just as the Rights group said Atiku Abubakar has a terrible record of not intervening when Christians are killed by his kinsmen but yet he hopes to win the votes of Christians as he seeks the ticket of the opposition PDP to become their Presidential Candidate this month. 

HURIWA dismissed ATIKU ABUBAKAR as someone who lacks principles and is perpetually afraid of Islamic fundamentalists thus creating the image of himself as a Moslem bigot. ATIKU ABUBAKAR DENIED EVER CONDEMNING THE KILLING OF THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN GIRL DEBORAH IN SOKOTO BECAUSECISLAMISTS THREATENED HIM ON HIS FACEBOOK AND TWEETER NOT TO CAST THEIR VOTES FOR HIM. LET US ASK ATIKU ABUBAKAR,  IF YOUR DAUGHTER IS AT THIS RECEIVING END OF THIS BARBARIC MURDER,  WILL YOU OREFER THE SO CALLED VOTES OF THE LAWLESS ISLAMISTS OR WILL YOU STAND BY THE NIGERIAN CONSTITUTION WHICH IN SECTION 36(5) GUARANTEES FAIR HEARING TO ALL ACCUSED PERSONS SND SECTION 6 CONCEDES JUDICIAL POWER OF THE FEDERATION TO THE COURTS OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION LOSTED THEREIN? WE ASK PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI,  IF ONE OF YOUR DAUGHTER IS THE ONE TREATED LIKE A CHICKEN LIKE DEBORSH OF SOKOTO COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, WILL YOU MAINTAIN CONSPIRATORIAL SILENCE AS IF YOU ARE NOT ON THIS PLANET WITH US?”

HURIWA tackles Lagos police over baby caught with dispatch rider, alleges cover-up

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria(HURIWA), on Monday, faulted the Lagos State Police Command over its stance on a 10-month-old baby caught with a dispatch rider, Williams Tadule, in the Sangotedo area of the state.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, alleged that the police is trying to cover-up the suspected abduction of the lad to give an untrue impression that Lagos is safe whereas it is not.

A video had gone viral last week with a mob descending on Tadule for hiding the baby in question in his delivery box but the police on Monday said the dispatch rider got the consent of the baby’s mother, Lovina Biturs, to take her 10-month-old baby away.

According to the police, Tadule and Bitrus were neighbours and the baby was fond of the rider.

“To pacify the baby, his mother allowed him go with the rider,” said police spokesman in Lagos, Adekunle Ajisebutu, noting that the baby caught with the rider was not stolen.

But HURIWA faulted the police, stating that the narration defied logic.

HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The Lagos State Police Command must go back to their scriptwriters because the script released justifying the dispatch rider’s custody of the baby looks like a Nollywood movie.

“The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, must answer the following questions:

“Who on earth will keep a 10-month-old baby in a courier box without access to air except a criminal and kidnapper?

“With the delicate and the exposed manner of motorbikes, who on earth will allow a 10-month-old baby go on a bike with a neighbour just to pacify him save an accomplice?

“There is more than meets the eye in this case. The police must quit attempt at repackaging and explaining away crimes. The police must stop its attempt at image laundering to protect its failures to secure lives and property in Lagos and all over the country.

“Recall that a Bus Rapid Transit passenger, Oluwabamise Ayanwole, was recently brutally murdered by her abductors who later dumped dismembered her body on the Carter Bridge by Ogogoro Communityin Lagos.

“Also, masked gunmen kidnapped Air Vice Marshal Sikiru Smith (retd.), in the Ajah area of Lagos in September 2021 but later released him after ransom was paid.

“The Lagos police must realise its failures as the security situation in Lagos further worsens and rise up to launch a renewed war against the criminals rather than explaining away crimes.”

HURIWA further called on the Federal Government to enforce stringent legal frameworks and sanctions against crimes targeting kids such as baby’s factory, kidnappings, sexual molestation of children, murders, etc.

Recall that five-year-old pupil, Hanifa Abubakar, was recently mutilated and killed by her Kano State-based school proprietor, Abdulmalik Tanko, who was supposed to protect her.

From Kankara in Katsina State to Kagara in Niger State, Chibok in Borno State, Dapchi in Yobe State, amongst others, school children have been abducted in hundreds by marauders, married off by the bandits, and some killed. The pathetic case of Leah Sharibu is still fresh in mind.

HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The crimes against children and the vulnerable in the country is becoming alarming and unacceptable. The Federal Government must act fast, change the name of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to MINISTRY OF BABIES AND FAMILY AFFAIRS.

“FG must also charge the National Assembly and the 36 states assemblies to make stringent punishments for those who commit crimes against children. Recall that due to these rising crimes against children, the United Nations Children’s Fund classified Nigeria along with Somalia, Congo, Cameroon, and Niger based on countries with the highest cases of verified abductions in 2021.

“Practical measures must be taken to tackle headlong these crimes. The need for police to have a national data bank of persons caught in these types of crimes against children is non-negotiable. Repeated offenders should get life imprisonment.”

March 14, 2022

Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA)

EXCLUSIVE: Kaduna Community Accuses Nigerian Military of Burning Their Houses & Churches

…Ward Councillor Said army had confrontation with Boko Haram terrorists in the area

Residents of Galuwyi in Kunai Ward of Chikun local government area of Kaduna state have accused the Nigerian army of carrying out what they described as arson in their community on January 29, 2022.

A resident of the community who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity, citing fears to his life and safety, recounted his terrible experience on the day of the ugly incident.

“It happened on the 29 of January at about 12:25pm while we were in our respective houses relaxing.

“Suddenly we began to hear gunshots in our community close to the river that is between us and the neighboring community, Kabrasha. We saw men of the Nigerian army coming into our community in large number. People began to run helter skelter for their lives.

“Later we got to know that the army were exchanging gunfire with bandits, the army obviously overpowered the bandits and the bandits ran away while the army crossover into our community.

“When they got into our community, they began to set our houses on fire.” He recounted

The source further recalled that after setting their houses, stores and even animals on fire, the army went to two Churches in the community; Baptist and Assemblies of God Churches and set both ablaze.

“After setting our houses, stores and cattle on fire, the military shifted to the two churches in the town Jimrewa Baptist church and Assemblies of God church. In the assemblies of God church, they gathered all the musical gadgets and burnt them down while the Baptist church was burnt down completely leaving nothing to be removed from it.” He said

This reporter also gathered that residents of Galuwyi are currently seeking refuge in Sabon Gaya, a suburb of Kaduna while a few aged men and women who couldn’t leave due to their old ages are left in the burnt community under harsh weather conditions.

This reporter reached out to the Ward Councillor of Kunai Ward, Honorable Lawal Danjuma who also confirmed the incident but claimed that the military were chasing terrorists in the area.

“I don’t have much details but what i can tell you is that there was a confrontation between the soldiers and Boko Haram in the area which led to the military allegedly burning down the communities to avoid the terrorists from hiding there.” Danjuma said.

When asked about the burning of two churches in the community, the Councillor said he doesn’t have much information on that but promised to speak to a local vigilante member from a nearby community who was with the military on the day of the operation.

Efforts to get more information from the Ward councillor proved abortive as he claimed he hasn’t been able to reach the vigilante official whom he claimed was with the military on the day of the incident.

Galuwyi community is situated around the Kaduna river which shares boundary with Niger state, a state where Boko Haram terrorists hoisted their flag last year.

This is not the first time a community in Chikun local government is accusing the Nigerian Military of destroying their homes and churches.

In December 2020, Kasnawi village in Chikun ward accused the Nigerian Airforce of carrying out aerial bombardments on their community, killing six people and injuring four. Several houses were also destroyed by the Airforce on the same day.

Recalled also that in May 2020, an Assemblies of God Church was hit by an Airforce munition in Kabarashi community.

Reacting to the incident, the Kaduna State Government said that the damage done to the Assemblies of God’s Church, Kabarashi village in the Chikun Local Government Area of the state was not intentional. The commissioner of Internal Security, Samuel Aruwan said the munitions that hit the church were targeted at bandits terrorising the state and said that Governor Nasir El-Rufai, had directed that the damage be assessed for necessary action.

ECOWAS Court Orders Nigeria to pay N30 Million to Mrs. Helen Joshua For Unlawful Murder of her Son by A Soldier

The Economic Community of West African States Court (ECOWAS Court of Justice) sitting in Abuja- Nigeria has on Tuesday 15 February, 2022 delivered a judgment in the Case of Mrs Helen Joshua & 1OR V. Federal Republic of Nigeria ECW/CCJ/APP/13/18.

The Court which entered Judgment in favour of the 1st Applicant and against the Respondent, directed the Federal Republic of Nigeria to pay N30 Million naira ($75,000) as compensation for the wrongful killing of Solomon Andy, a young Nigerian who on 9 June, 2017, was killed by Private Abel Ocheme, a soldier attached to Command Secondary School Kaduna. The trigger- happy soldier had killed the victim while he was packing sand from a gutter close to the soldier’s duty post.

Delivering the Judgment, Justice Keikura Bangura who read the Court’s Judgment that had in coram, Justice Gberi de Ouattara and Justice Silva Moreira Costa, upheld the arguments of Gloria Mabeiam Ballason Esq, Counsel to the Applicant and found that the killing and confiscation by the 1 Division of the Nigerian Army of the body of the victim who was poor, defenseless, harmless and out about eking out a means of livelihood, was unlawful, cruel, inhuman and degrading.

The Court further found that the Federal Republic of Nigeria failed to uphold its obligations under, Articles 1, 4, 5 & 12 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights which mandates States to protect the sanctity and dignity of every life and stated that the Nigerian State owed Solomon Andy a duty of care which it failed to discharge and did not show the requisite abhorrence for the violation of the right to life of her citizen.

The Court found as “grossly humiliating and a violation of the right inherent in man” for the Nigerian Army to confiscate the body of Solomon Andy and leave it in an advancing degenerative state of disrepair since 9 June 2017 when the killing occured till the time of the judgment. Accordingly the Court ordered the Federal Republic of Nigeria which was represented by Maimuna Shiru Esq, to pay N25 Million naira only to the 1st Applicant as compensation for the wrongful and unlawful killing of Solomon Andy, N5million naira only as cost of burial and to immediately release the body of the deceased and comply with all orders of the Court.

Responding to the Judgment, Ballason who is Counsel to the Applicant, thanked the Court for its eventual but sure arrival to justice in the matter stating that the judgment will go a long way in reinforcing the value of a Nigerian life and the worth inherent in all humans.

Baroness Cox, John Eibner Write to Luka Binniyat

…Accuse Aruwan of acting on behalf of a politically ascendant Islamist/Fulani power network

Caroline Cox, an independent member of the UK House of Lords, and Dr. John Eibner, the president of Christian Solidarity International, have written to Luka Binniyat, a journalist imprisoned for his reporting on massacres of Christians in his native southern Kaduna state.

“We admire greatly the courage and determination you have shown in exposing the atrocity crimes committed against the people of Southern Kaduna and elsewhere in the Middle Belt,” they wrote, “especially those that target the region’s defenseless Christian communities.”

Binniyat, a Nigeria Report contributor, was arrested on 4 November for his reporting on the massacre of 38 Christians in Madamai village in southern Kaduna state. He has been detained ever since.

“It is known throughout the world that you were thrown into prison on the orders of a state security agent, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, acting on behalf of a politically ascendant Islamist/Fulani power network,” Cox and Eibner wrote. “As a result, you have been kept there for over two months without bail.”

As Cox and Eibner notes in their letter, on 27 January, the court finally granted Binniyat bail, but under conditions that are difficult to meet. As of this writing, he remains in jail while his supporters assemble the guarantees required by the judge.

“The way the authorities deal with you has all the hallmarks of the political persecution of a journalist and human rights defender,” Cox and Eibner concluded. “While they intend your imprisonment to be an intimidating display of power, it in fact reveals profound weakness on their part. The mighty inevitably become fearful when light is shed on atrocity crimes and the perpetrators who remain unpunished.”

Credit: Christian Solidarity International

BREAKING: Court Grants Journalist Binniyat Bail

A federal high court in Kaduna has granted detained SOKAPU spokesman, journalist Luka Binniyat bail.

Recall that Binniyat was arrested on November 4, 2021 over allegations of cyber stalking.

Details later

Group seeks termination of Kaduna deputy gov’s son appointment for drug addiction, murder

A group under the aegis of Kaduna State Concerned Citizens on Wednesday called on Governor Nasir El-Rufai to terminate the appointment of Ibrahim, son of his deputy, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe.

The group also urged law enforcement agencies to prosecute him, following alleged drug-related offences which include abuse, dangerous driving, and rascality.

Ibrahim is a staff Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority.

According to a press statement signed by the Chairman of the group, Musa Haruna, and the group’s Secretary, Jatau Hakuri, which was obtained by punch correspondent, the group lamented the consequences of Balarabe’s actions.

They also alleged that Ibrahim has on several occasions exhibited actions not befitting of a true citizen of the country, not to talk of one occupying the public position, adding that he has been a notorious ‘drug addict’.

While enumerating various incidence where Ibrahim was culpable, the group stressed that the Police and other security agencies have failed to arrest him nor prosecute him because of the influence of his mother as Deputy Governor of the state.

The statement partly read, “Ibrahim has no regard for the sanctity of human life, which he has shown several times by the way he often recklessly ram into people with his car, with impunity.

“In 2019, Ibrahim drove Government vehicle attached to his mother and hit a person who had parked beside the road. The man died, but nothing was done.

“In Sept 2021, he had three incidences of accidents where he hit people. The most fatal was that of 30th September 2021, when he hit a KASTLEA officer, in which the officer sustained 5 fractures. Yet Ibrahim began to fight other KASTLEA officers. Even at the hospital, he was not remorseful, as he was openly taking drugs. The KASTLEA officer was hospitalised at Barau Dikko.”

They expressed dismay that such a person is given a public position, in government with a track record of integrity, commending the governor for landmark achievements recorded, it urged him to terminate his appointment.

“We express shock at how Ibrahim has gotten away with serious crimes he has committed, such a person is a stain to a government renowned with integrity, justice, equity, and fairness,” the group added.

Punch publication with the exception of header

Nothing must Happen to SOKAPU Spokesman in Prison: Southern Middle Belt Alliance Tells El-rufai

…SaMBA demands immediate release of Journalist Luka Binniyat

Southern and Middle Belt Alliance (SaMBA) has demanded for the immediate release of Spokesman of Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), Luka Biniyat by the Governor El-rufai’s led administration with immediate effect.

The Group condemned continuous detention of Southern Kaduna Born Journalist and wondered how somebody could be detained for two months in a civil matter.

SaMBA warned that if anything happens to Luka Biniyat, the governor would be held responsible.

In the statement signed by Prince Rwang Pam Jnr. SAMBA stated that while the illegal detention at the maximum-security prisons in Kaduna was at the instance of the the Kaduna State Commissioner for internal Security Samuel Aruwan, the illegality can’t be achieved without approval of the Executive Governor of Kaduna state and Aruwan should remember that he can never be in corridor of power for life.

The statement reads, ” Our Attention has been drawn to the continuous detention of the Spokesman of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), Luka Biniyat for the past two months on the Orders of a Magistrate Court in Kaduna on the trumped-up charges filed by the governor El-rufai led administration using the Kaduna State Commissioner for internal Security Mr Samuel Aruwan.

It is shocking and alien to democratic traditions that a matter that ought to be civil in nature is twisted into a high-profile criminal case traceable to terrorism and therefore brought under the terrorism prevention Act. There is no doubt that the Kaduna State government is using its DPP to haunt and use the Judiciary in persecuting its perceived enemies.

The SOKAPU Spokesman was arraigned before the Magistrate Court on an initial offence of injurious falsehood which is ordinarily bailable however when the Bail application was moved before the Magistrate the Kaduna State government through its DPP quickly filed charges of Internet stalking etc under the terrorism prevention Act that are not ordinarily bailable. This move was clearly targeted at keeping Luka Binnyat in prison until his application for bail is heard by a superior Court.
SaMBA is appalled by this crude and inhuman use of institutions of State to harass, humiliate and persecute citizens by a so-called democratic government

SaMBA therefore calls on the Kaduna State government, the Federal government of Nigeria and the international community to take note of the following.
a Luka Binnyat is a Nigerian citizen who is entitled to a fair and unbiased trial before the Courts if he has committed any offence.

b That while in custody of the Kaduna state correctional center, Luka Binnyat is reported to have fallen ill and his health has deteriorated to the point that he is now unable to walk

c Luka Binnyat is under our laws assumed to be innocent until proven guilty by a Court. Therefore, he should not be serving a prison sentence before the commencement of trial.

SaMBA calls on the government of Kaduna State to quickly refrain from the current persecution of Luka Binnyat and allow him to enjoy his liberty as provided by the Nigerian constitution until such a time that such liberty is taken away at the conclusion of his trial if any.

SaMBA states finally that, if anything untoward happens to Luka while under this persecution, the Kaduna state government should be held responsible.

EXCLUSIVE: Binniyat’s Health Condition Worsening in Prison: Prison Source

…Now uses crutches in prison says wife

By Steven Kefas, Kaduna

70 days after the arrest and detention of Epoch times reporter, Mr Luka Binniyat at the kaduna convict prison without trial, the deteriorating health condition of the 2017 award winner of the Nigeria union of journalist (NUJ) “The torch Bearer of Nigeria journalist” seem to be getting worse, prison source told our reporter.

Binniyat was seen being pushed on a wheel chair in the prison premises on Monday as the source said that the former chairman, correspondent chapel of the NUJ, kaduna state chapter, was battling a crippling leg infection.

This was even after it was reported last week that Binniyat was rushed to the prison clinic which had no drugs nor qualified and competant health workers after his inmates where alarmed by the suffering he went through over many nights.

The source said of Binniyat as fearing for his life remains unattended to by a qualified doctor as he has been unable to have any good sleep which May have dangerously heightened his blood pressure.

When contacted, his wife, Gladys Binniyat said that she has been unable to see her husband being the only visitor that is allowed to bring him food twice a week.

“I have not been able to see him since 2nd January, 2022″she said.

“He called me on Monday using the official prison number to my surprise and said that the prison officers in the clinic said that he should buy crutches,”she said.

“I bought the crutches and I have taken them to the prison, yet they didn’t allow me to see him.

“I am very disturbed over his health condition.” she said.

Binniyat’s lawyer, Barrister Ehizogie Fidelis Imadojemu, who also confirmed his deteriorating health conditions to this reporter, said he is worried about the journalist’s condition in prison nwith regards to the snail speed of his trial.

“Luka called me on Monday and told me about the condition of his health in prison, he told me he now uses wheelchair provided by the prison authority.

Barrister Imadojemu also expressed dissatisfaction with the way and manner his client’s case is going after 70 days in detention.

“During one of my regular visits to see him at the Kaduna Minimum Security Custodial Centre, he told me of pains he felt in his legs. In recent time, the pains have increased so that he now moves in a wheelchair.

“From what he told me, it’s an ailment that predates his recent arrest, detention and remand. He has not seen a Doctor. His only contact with a Health care provider in the Custodial Centre to examine the legs was not a Doctor or a Medical Practitioner, properly so called.

“He has had little or no medical attention. I am trying to speak to the authorities at the Custodial Centre so that he meets with a Medical Practitioner immediately as his health is deteriorating very fast.” He said

Barrister Imadojemu further said that charges were filled against Luka at the Federal high court in December but the case is yet to be assigned to s judge.

“Although Charges have been filed against him since early December of 2021, in Case Number: FHC/KD/79c/2021, the case before the Federal High Court, Kaduna, has not been assigned by the Presiding Judge or Senior Judge who normally assigns fresh cases. Consequently, no date has been fixed for his arraignment.

“His bail application filed after the Charges were filed, has also suffered the same fate. Hopefully, when he is arraigned, his bail application will be heard.” Imadojemu said.

Recall that Journalist Luka Binniyat was arrested by men of the Kaduna state Investigation Bureau (SIB) on November 4 2021 over a news article he authored for New York based online newspaper, Epoch times.

Binniyat was alleged to have quoted Senator Danjuma La’ah, the Senator representing Southern Kaduna Senatorial District in a publication on the killings of 38 people in Madamai and Abun communities in Southern Kaduna in September 2021, a publication the Kaduna state commissioner of Internal Security perceived defamatory.

Luka Binniyat: 63 days today behind Bars without bail: HURIWA Raises Alarm Of Alleged Poisoning

Leading Civil Rights Advocacy Group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has raised alarm that some dark forces embedded inside the Kaduna State government may have deliberately ‘poisoned’ or may be contemplating poisoning the Global Spokesman of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) Comrade Luka Biniyat illegally detained at the maximum security prisons in Kaduna at the instance of the the Kaduna State Commissioner for internal Security Samuel Aruwan. 

The Civil Rights organization- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has called on the Kaduna State Governor Nasir Elruffai to call his commissioner to order to stop using the Kaduna State judiciary to illegally detain the Kaduna born frontline International journalist over a civil matter of alleged libel against the person of the aforementioned Commissioner who incidentally hails from the same Southern Kaduna State and is also a trained Journalist like the illegally incarcerated Journalist.  

“We call on the Kaduna State governor to prevent any untoward thing from being inflicted on the person of the detained Journalist by some evil forces just as the RIGHTS GROUP SAID the detained journalist is confirmed critically ill inside the Prison by his Wife who visited him Yesterday. We call on the Kaduna State House of Assembly to ensure that the life of this illustrious Son of the State is not endangered in anyway by any reactionary elements whilst he is being illegally detained without bail for 63 days over a mere civil related cause of action which ordinarily shouldn’t be subjected to official manipulation “. 

HURIWA said thus:  “On 3rd November 2021, a complaint was made to the Kaduna state commissioner of police, alleging that a news story, authored by Luka in the Epoch Times, a US-based magazine, defamed the complainant. 

Luka was alleged to have quoted Senator Danjuma La’ah, the Senator representing Southern Kaduna in the national assembly but the senator surprisingly came out to deny making the comments he was quoted to have said in the said publications. The police then arrested Luka, the next day, 4th November on charges of injurious falsehood and defamation. 

In the First Information Report (FIR), after Luka was arrested and before charging him to court,  the complaint was changed to cyberstalking according to section 24 (b) of the cybercrime prohibition prevention act of 2015. Luka subsequently was detained in 3 different police facilities including the notorious CID cell where he passed through very dehumanising conditions.

Luka was taken to a magistrate court in Barnawa on the 9th and then on the 10th of November. Luka’s lawyers applied for his bail while the police prosecuting lawyers opposed it.  On 10th November when his bail was denied, he was transferred to the kaduna prison from the Police cell in Gabasawa. 

On 23rd November, he was brought to court again and all parties made their submissions.  Luka’s lawyers argued that because cyberstalking is not within the jurisdiction of a magistrate court the court was illegally detaining Luka on a case it has no power on. The police prosecuting lawyer opposed it, saying they have sent their report to the state ministry of justice and are still waiting for legal advice.  

The Judge then gave 6th December for the bail hearing. But he didn’t come on that 6th. He said he started his annual leave on the 1st of December. He now gave a new date of 29 December for the bail ruling.  But on the 29th of December, the judge didn’t come to court while Luka wasn’t even brought to court too. 

Luka’s lawyers then concluded plans to apply to a higher court, but while Luka was in prison, the state filed the case at a state high court and served him the papers in prison.

So, 63 days today Luka is still in prison, waiting for his first appearance at the state high court where the case would be starting afresh and the bail application starting afresh.

Luka’s trial is marred by irregularities, the margistrate who first ordered his detention seems not to be independent to make any decision even when it is clear he should.

His wife visited him yesterday and said she couldn’t see him because he was too sick to come see her at the visiting room. She said he is suffering from severe leg pain which might have been made worse by the poor living conditions in the prison. We have also gathered that he was taken to the poorly equipped prison clinic on a wheelchair yesterday.” 

HURIWA has therefore served the Kaduna State Government to within 48 hours produce the detained Journalist in a court of competent jurisdiction so he can apply for jail just as HURIWA threatened to take steps to alert the World about the speculated plots by certain UNKNOWN MEMBERS OF THE DEEP STATE in Kaduna State to eliminate Comrade Luka Biniyat by food poisoning.