Metro
Court grants Bauchi Islamic cleric arraigned for blasphemy bail
A Chief Magistrates’ Court 1 sitting in Bauchi on Tuesday, granted an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Idris Abdulaziz, bail in the sum of N1 million.
Abdulaziz was arraigned by the police on a one-count charge of public disturbance and inciting public unrest on Monday.
Some Islamic organizations in the state led by Fitiyanul Isla had accused Abdulaziz of hate speech against prominent clerics in the state and Prophet Muhammad.
Chief Magistrate Abdulfatah Sekoni, who ruled on the bail application, also ordered the cleric to produce three sureties in like sum.
He said one of the sureties must be the defendant’s district head while the second must be a permanent secretary with the Bauchi State government who is expected to provide a Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property valued at N5 million.
The third surety, according to Sekoni, must be a religious scholar and the defendant’s colleague.
READ ALSO:8 killed, 7 injured in Bauchi fatal crash
The chief magistrate equally ordered the defendant and the sureties to submit their recent passport photographs and other means of identification.
He said: “There is no room for this court at this stage to express its sentiments as it is a matter of law, facts, and circumstances which the court considers without being emotional or sentimental.
“Based on the above premise and most importantly in the interest of justice, this court deems it fit to grant the applicant bail upon the fulfillment of the following conditions and he must bear with me that the bail will be stringent taking into consideration the nature and circumstances of the case involved.
“There will be a bail bond in the sum of N1 million and three credible sureties in the like sum.”
He adjourned the case till May 24 for hearing.
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