SAN FRANCISCO, December 05, (THEWILL) – A Kaduna High Court has ordered the Directorate of State Services (DSS) to transfer the leader of the Shi’ite group, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat to the Nigerian Correctional Center, Kaduna to allow his lawyers and Doctors have easy access to him.
The order delivered by Justice Gideon Kurada was sequel to the application by Haruna Magashi, counsel to the IMN leader at the resumed hearing of the case in Kaduna, eight months after the last hearing of the case in April, 2019 before the IMN leader and wife went for an unsuccessful medical attention in India.
The IMN leader and his wife were dragged to the court for alleged culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of public peace among other charges in another court and has been in custody of the DSS since 2015.
Justice Kurada had on April 25 adjourned the trial of the IMN leader indefinitely to enable him serve on the panel of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal in Yobe.
At the resumed hearing of the case on Thursday, Magashi who stood in for the lead counsel to the IMN leader and his wife, Femi Falana (SAN), applied for his clients transfer to the Kaduna Prisons, now known as Correctional Center.
Magashi said the Counsel and Medical Doctors would have easy access to the IMN leader and his wife if transferred to the correctional facility in Kaduna and that would speed up the trial of his clients.
The order equally took the team of prosecution by the storm, when the prosecution counsel led by Dari Bayero appeared in court set to continue with the trial of the IMN leader and his wife.
Bayero who is the Director Public Prosecution (DPP) at the Kaduna State Ministry of Justice told newsmen that his team was ready for the trial but it was stalled.
He, however, said that the team would appear set for the trial on the adjourned date of Feb. 6, 2020.
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