‘What Was He Doing There’ — Police React To Kidnap Of Judge In Katsina Court

On Tuesday, a judge, Husaini Sama’ila was kidnapped in a Sharia Court by bandits, but the Katsina State Police has questioned his appearance in court since Judiciary workers were on strike.

Speaking to THE WHISTLER in a phone conversation Wednesday, the spokesperson of the Katsina State Police Command, SP Gambo Isah, confirmed the incident to have occurred at a Sharia court located at Bauren Zakat village of Safana Local Government Area (LGA) of the State.

Isah pondered on why the judge was in that court, saying the court had been vacated for security reasons.

He added that the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) had declared a strike since April 6 and all courts had been closed.

The police said, “That court is not existing in that place, it has already been vacated from that area. That village is very close to the forest and because of the security threat, the court had been shifted into Safana main town.

“In fact, we are still investigating the circumstance surrounding the abduction of that Sharia Court Judge. Number 1, because of JUSUN strike, the court is not sitting in Katsina, we don’t know what really took him there.

“If he was going there on official, even non-unofficial capacity, he was supposed to have informed the police so that we give him adequate security of policemen”.

Expressing the need for further inquiries, he said, “Actually, if he went there on official capacity, why is the court orderly… why is the prosecutor who is also a police officer… What about the policemen that was supposed to guard the court to provide security?

“So, he went there on his own I think for personal grounds and that is what we are telling people because these bandits they have informants within the communities who usually give them information on the movement of any persons around those areas. ”

Isah, however, noted that investigations and moves to rescue the victim have commenced.

On May 9, bandits had abducted no fewer than 40 worshippers observing their Tahajjud at a mosque located in Jibiya town of the state. Although 30 were rescued, the fate of 10, is still unknown after 10 days.

Also, in December 2020, over 300 schoolboys from the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara were abducted by bandits and were freed almost a week after.

The captors were said to have kept the victims in one of the forests in the neighbouring Zamfara State.