From Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau
The Zamfara State Magistrate Court II sitting in Gusau has struck out charges against ZUREP officials in company of two other personnel of the NSCDC who had earlier been arraigned over alleged burglary and theft of a shop belonging to one Yusha’u YS Maishadda.
Presided over by the Senior Magistrate, Aminu Sani, who adjourned to 17/02/2025 for ruling on whether the accused persons can be sued as they are government officials and acted on official capacity that led to the destruction of the plaintiff’s shop.
The Magistrate in his ruling, struck out the case and discharged the accused persons despite the absence of one of the principal defendants.
Magistrate Sani further ruled that, the court has no jurisdiction for entertaining the case despite citing authorities by the counsel to the defendants, Garba Surajo Gusau, who cited section 308 of the 1999 constitution as counter to whether the accused can be sued for criminal charges.
Commenting on the ruling outside the court, Counsel to the plaintiff, barrister Garba Surajo Gusau, said the Magistrate went ahead to struck out the case and discharged the accused persons, adding that, “The absentia, who is the Executive Secretary of the Zamfara Urban and Regional Planning (ZUREP), has written an excused letter that he was seeking for adjournment.
“The said letter lacks any supporting evidence that he was assigned by the Executive Governor of Zamfara State to represent him at Abuja, we rejected the application and prayed that the court should order for arrest and detain him in correctional center for abscondment has been his habit since the inception of the case”.
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