Police Failure To Produce Witnesses Stall Trafficking Case
By Chima Azubuike
The Chief Magistrate of Bogo Court VIII, Japheth Maida, on Wednesday adjourned the case involving a Gombe-based Human Right Activist, Musa Ali-Maishanu, and the Commissioner of Police to 4th January 2023, for failure on the part of prosecution to complete investigation.
Ali-Maishanu, the Regional Coordinator of an International Non-Governmental Organisation, Global Pan-Africanism Network Nigeria (GPAN), who is on bail, was detained and arraigned by the police for threatening to organise a protest against the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
Our Correspondent reports that Ali-Maishanu allegedly threatened NAPTIP with protest for refusing to treat with justice a case of a 27-year-old woman, Hauwa’u Musa, popularly known as ‘Ladidi,’ who was taken from the state since she was underaged to Adamawa, married off, when she became an adult without the consent of her mother.
Recall that before the case was adjourned to December 7, Prosecution Counsel, Barrister Musa Kumo had on 2nd of November requested the Chief Magistrate for additional time, for police to complete investigation, stressing that authorities were yet to conclude their processes.
Speaking in an interview with our Correspondent shortly after the Court sitting, Barrister Ibrahim Ambore-Nuhu, Counsel to the Defendants explained that he chose to concede to the application of Prosecution Counsel, while assuring that he would file application for the case to be struck out for want of diligent prosecution.
Ambore-Nuhu said, “We have informed the Court that we are going to do the needful before the next adjourned date. We wanted to apply for the striking out of the matter, however, we want to come formally by way of deposition.
“So, I will apply formally for striking out for want of diligent prosecution before the adjourned date because they have not presented witnesses.”
The Defense Counsel noted that for the past four court appearances the police had shown that it has no witness to support the prosecution, “The Commissioner of Police doesn’t have witnesses this is the fourth time we are coming for the matter, they would have presented the witnesses if they had but the end justifies the means,” Ambore-Nuhu added.
