Kaduna to appeal acquittal of 100 Shi’ites

The Kaduna State Government said it would appeal Tuesday’s court ruling that discharged and acquitted no fewer than 100 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, otherwise known as ‘Shi’ites’, over the December 2015 violence in Zaria. A Kaduna State High Court presided over by Justice David Shiri Wyom had discharged and acquitted 100 Shi’ites based on a no- case submission brought before it by the IMN lawyers. The Shi’ites supporters had on December 15, 2015, clashed with the Nigerian army resulting in the death of several members of the sect. Following Tuesday’s ruling, a statement by state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Hajiya Umma Hikima, through Governor Nasir el-Rufai’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Samuel Aruwan, revealed that the state vowed to appeal the ruling. The statement read, “Today, some accused persons charged in connection with the Zaria clashes of December 2015 were discharged by the court. “The Kaduna State Ministry of Justice hereby states that it is totally dissatisfied with the ruling of the honourable court which it views as perverse and totally lacking in merit and shall appeal immediately to the Kaduna Division of the Court of Appeal.”]]>