Court stops arrest of Katsina human rights activist

A High Court in Katsina State has given an order stopping the arrest of a human rights activist in the state, Muhammad Mahdi Shehu.

The court order was issued on Friday, December 25, nullifying an earlier enforcement of the arrest warrant on Shehu issued by the Katsina Upper Shari’a Court 2.

The High Court document reads:

“The court sets aside the order for the arrest and detention of the Appellant/Applicant issued by the Upper Shari’a Court No 2, Katsina, presided over by Sagir Saidu in complaint No CRF/424/2020 which is subject of Appeal No. KTH/16CA/2020, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”

Shehu had filed an appeal challenging the arrest warrant issued against him by the trial judge at the Upper Sharia Court 2 which issued a bench ruling ordering the police to arrest him and compel him to appear before it.

Read also: Education under threat in northern Nigeria, Amnesty Int’l reacts to abduction of Katsina schoolboys

The order followed the activist’s failure to appear before the court for the continuation of hearing in the suit filed by Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Mustapha Inuwa, against him for alleged insults and defamation of character.

Shehu had, in July 2020, asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to investigate Governor Aminu Masari and Inuwa for alleged misappropriation and misapplication of over N52 billion spent as security vote in the state from June 2015 to April 29, 2020.

In the petition, Shehu said the daily attacks by bandits and kidnappers in the state called for serious questions on the sincerity in the management of security by the state government, something Inuwa said defamed his character.

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