September 02, (THEWILL) – A Kano State Upper Shari’ah Court presided over by Justice Ibrahim Sarki Yola has ordered psychiatric evaluation for a controversial cleric in Kano, Sheikh Abduljabar Nasiru Kabara, after he refused to answer any question posed to him in court on Thursday.
The Kano state government is prosecuting the Sheikh for alleged defamation and making derogatory statements about Islam and Prophet Mohammed.
The government’s lead counsel, Suraj Said, filed four fresh charges, which created a misunderstanding between the defendant’s counsels and the government’s counsels.
However, the presiding judge agreed to approve the inclusion of the fresh charges if the accused, Sheikh Abduljabar, answered in affirmative or rejected the charges.
Sheik Kabara ‘s counsel, Sale Bagoro, objected to the new charges and advised his client to remain silent during questioning by Justice Yola on the four fresh charges filed by the Kano state government. The Sheikh obliged and did not answer any of the questions the judge posed to him.
THEWILL recalls that the Kano State Upper Shari’ah Court Presided over by Ibrahim Sarki Yola had fixed September 2, 2021 to deliver his ruling on the eligibility of four senior advocates of Nigeria to continue with the prosecution of Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara who is standing trial on allegations bordering on defamation to religion and derogatory statements against the Prophet Mohammed.
The lead counsel Suraj Sa’aida had, while tendering the Fiat Instrument to the Court, on the instruction of the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Musa Abdullahi Lawan, urged the court to terminate the First Information Report (FIR) earlier presented to the court by the police when the defendant was first arraigned on July 16, 2021 and grant leave to the prosecution read over a prepared charge to Abduljabbar Kabara.
Justice Yola adjourned the case to September 16, 2021 for continuance and to receive the defendant’s psych evaluation result.
