By: Yahaya Zakka Minna.
Minna Chief magistrate Court 1,Presided by Magistrate Hauwa Kulu Isa have sentence eight Youths to five year’s in Prison with the option of fine of (N70,000.00) seventy thousand naira each.
The convicts are as follows, Mohammed Hussaini Salim, Aliyu Abubakar Danmari, Mahmudu Yahaya and Abba Mustapha Jugol.
Others included Raphael Solomon, Ibrahim Mohammed Abba, Mohammed Isah Abdullahi and Aminu Mohammed Sani all residents of Minna the state capital.
The Convicts pleaded guilty to the two count charges which bordered on inciting public crisis and public disturbance which contravened sections 113 and 114 of the penal code.
Having pleaded guilty to the two count charges,the prosecutor Inspector Mohammed Bello Beji, request the presiding chief Magistrate to try them summarily and convict them in accordance to section 157 of the criminal procedure code.
The police authorities had in January, 2022 arrested the teenagers on the allegations of inciting disturbance, riot, armed robbery and culpable homicide among offences in the first information report (FIR).
As a result of the capital nature of the charges brought against them by the police, the Chief Magistrate then directed the police to forward their case file to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in the state Ministry of Justice for legal advice.
When the legal report was brought back to the court, the office of the Director of public prosecution could not establish any of the charges level against them with any convincing evidences, noting that the police have failed in their investigations.
DPP then observed in his (advise) report that the charges of culpable homicide and armed robbery brought against them by the police was not thoroughly investigated and they should be tried with the offences of inciting disturbances and disturbances of public peace.
Magistrate Hauwa Kulu Isah, then reframed the charges and found them guilty of the two count charges and sentence them.