Abdulmaliq Tanko, the key suspect in the murder of Hanifa Abubakar, a five-year-old Noble Kiddies Academy student, was accused of threatening his life, forcing him to confess, and torturing him, according to Justice Usman Na'aba.
On the commencement of the criminal trial on Wednesday, Justice Na'aba declared that no meaningful evidence had been presented to indicate the accused were not accountable for their prior comments.
In his trial-within-a-trial verdict, Justice Na'aba stated that Abdulmaliq could not clearly verify the identify of the gadget he claimed was used to penetrate his bodily parts, therefore dismissing the suspects' claims.
Abdulmaliq (first defendant) and Fatima Musa (third defendant), at the last sitting, denied signing the confessional statement brought against them by the police.
The prime suspect also revealed that he was electrocuted with the unknown device and threatened with dangerous weapons by the security agents while making a statement that he claimed he refused to sign.
The third defendant similarly told the court that she was threatened and offered N250,000 compensation if she offer to cooperate with the security officers while obtaining her confession.
The revelation ensued when the defense counsel, Barr. Muktar L. Usman objected the submission of the first security witness Sergeant Rilwan Ibrahim for what he described as inconsistency in the evidence of the first and third suspects’ statements.
Usman who also doubles as deputy director at Legal Aid Council, Kano office, faulted the method applied by the police to obtaining the suspects’ statement, insisted the security failed to comply with provisions of the Criminal Administration of Justice Act (CAJA).
Usman later sought the court’s permission to order for a trial within a trial, to clear the claim and counterclaim where the first (Tanko) and third (Fatima) suspects made contrary claims.
