Yola Magistrate Court Strikes Out Bail Application of Two Men Over Capital Offences

 Yola Magistrate Court Strikes Out Bail Application of Two Men Over Capital Offences

The Chief Magistrate Court I sitting in Yola, Adamawa State, has struck out a bail application filed by two men arraigned over alleged multiple offences connected to the Bachama and Chobo crisis.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Kabiru Musa, refused the bail application brought by the defendants, Joshua William and Ezekiel Luka, who are from Lafiya Lamurde and Numan Local Government Areas respectively.

The defendants were arraigned on allegations of criminal conspiracy, unlawful possession of dangerous weapons, terrorism, inciting disturbance, and culpable homicide arising from the recent communal violence.

The bail application was filed through the defendants’ counsel, U. S. Mohammed, Esq., who appeared alongside D. K. Rigange, Esq. Counsel had urged the court to grant bail on liberal terms, citing health grounds and assuring the court that the defendants had credible sureties who would ensure their attendance throughout the trial.

In his ruling, Magistrate Kabiru Musa held that the oral application for bail was incompetent and accordingly struck it out. He explained that after carefully considering the nature of the offences, the court’s first concern must be jurisdiction.

The magistrate noted that culpable homicide is an offence punishable with death under Section 192 of the law. He stressed that by virtue of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and the Adamawa State Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) 2018, a Magistrate Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain or try offences carrying the death penalty.

He further cited Section 294 of the Adamawa State ACJL 2018, which mandates that a suspect arrested for an offence outside the jurisdiction of a Magistrate Court should only be brought before it for remand purposes.

Addressing the submission on the defendants’ health, the court stated that claims of ill health without documentary medical evidence were insufficient and could not override the issue of jurisdiction. The magistrate emphasized that the responsibility to consider bail applications in capital offences, including health-related grounds, lies solely with the High Court.