Abdulmalik Tanko, the proprietor of Noble Kids School, who kidnapped and killed his 5-year-old pupil, Hanifa Abubakar, has asked Kano State Government to provide him with a lawyer.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports the state government had filed a five-count charge against Mr Tanko, alongside his two accomplices, Hashimu Isyaku and Fatima Jibrin, before a High Court 5 in the state.
The trio was charged with Criminal Conspiracy, Kidnapping, Concealing/Keeping in Confinement a Kidnapped Person and Culpable Homicide, contrary to Sections 97, 274, 277 and 221 of the Penal Code.
When the accused persons were arraigned before the High Court, presided over by Justice Usman Na-Abba on Monday, they were docked without a legal representation.
The state counsel, who is the Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, M.A. Lawal, prayed to the court to decide if the proceeding should go ahead because it appears that the accused persons do not have lawyers.
The court then asked the defendants, starting from the principal suspect, Mr Tanko if they could engage the service of a lawyer or want the state government to provide lawyers for them.
In his response, Mr Tanko said he could not hire a lawyer but wanted the state government to provide one for him.
When the second defendant, Mr Isyaku, was asked the same question, he also said, “I want the state to provide lawyer for me”.
The third defendant, Ms Jibrin, who is a nursing mother, also said she wanted the state to provide a lawyer for her.
The Attorney-General then prayed to the court to adjourn the hearing to February 14 to enable the state provide lawyers for the accused persons.
The judge then granted the state counsel’s prayer and adjourned the sitting to Monday, February 14, for the continuation of the trial.
Mr Lawal also informed the court of their application to substitute the charges filed by the state against the accused persons on February 1 with the one filed on February 2, a prayer that was granted by the judge.
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