The Kaduna state government has
filed a suit against Chidi Odinkalu, a former chairman of the National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC).
In the suit dated March 18, 2019,
the government accused the human rights lawyer of inciting disturbance and
furnishing false information which is punishable under the state’s penal codes.
In February, Odinkalu had accused
Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, of lying about the number of casualties and
the timing of the attacks on Kajuru local government area of the state where
the governor had pegged casualties at 66.
The governor had described the
killings as deliberate and designed to attract reprisals and destabilise the
local government during the election.
The government, in the suit filed
at the chief magistrate’s court of Kaduna state, said Odinkalu committed an
offence with his comments.
The government further asked that
a cause of criminal summons be issued against Odinkalu for “inciting
disturbance, injurious falsehood, public nuisance, and furnishing false
information punishable under section 77, 373, 104, and 150 respectively of the
Penal Code Law of Kaduna state, 2017”.
Following another application
filed by the government, the court, on March 22, gave an order for the Kaduna
state command of the Nigeria Police Force to carry out an investigation on
Odinkalu.
In a letter dated March 28, the
Kaduna state judiciary wrote the deputy commissioner of police in charge of
criminal investigation and intelligence department to effect the investigation.
When contacted, Yakubu Sabo,
police spokesperson in Kaduna, said he would need time to check with the
development on the matter as it is an investigative one.
“I will find out,” he told
TheCable in a telephone interview.
“Since it’s something that has to
do with the investigation, I will have to verify from the CID.”
Responding to a message seeking
his reaction, Odinkalu said he had been invited previously by the police and he
was treated politely.
“The police have statutory powers
to investigate allegations of crime,” he said.
“It is a responsible
organisation. When they do their work, we have a duty to cooperate with them.
They have invited me previously. They treated me courteously. I have made a
statement. In the end, truth, like pregnancy, can’t be hidden. Hopefully, the
police will get to the truth in this matter.”
He added that he was yet to be
served any summons.
In 2017, Audu Maikori, Chocolate
City boss, was arrested by the police on charges of incitement based on a
petition by the Kaduna state government attributed to his tweet on killings in
a town in southern Kaduna.
Maikori later retracted and
apologised saying the information was false.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com