The Kaduna State government has said it will appeal the judgment of the state high court acquitting Shittes leader, Ibrahim El-zakzaky and his wife of all its charges.
Mr El-Zakzaky and his wife first appeared before the court after a clash in Zaria between Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), supporters and soldiers in 2015, where the troops killed about 300 protesting Shiites.
Delivering his verdict on Wednesday, Justice Gideon Kurada, said he found out that the Nasir El-rufai administration had charged the cleric to court in 2018 pursuant to the Penal Law enacted by the state government in 2017 over the alleged offence committed in 2015.
Justice Kurada held that the charges against El-zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, are not supposed to be filed, as the Kaduna State Government cannot arraign someone for a crime that was not an offence at the time, a position the state government differed with.
“We are going to appeal, there is no doubt about it, in fact, we have obtained the court judgement because we are not in agreement with my Lord’s reasoning and conclusion, it is not in consonance with the facts on ground,” the prosecution lead counsel, Dari Bayero, told Daily Trust Friday morning.
In a related development, the El-rufai administration has reportedly filed charges under the Treason and Treasonable Offences Act before a Federal High Court.
The spokesperson for Mr El-Zakzaky, Shuaibu Musa, confirmed this information to Peoples Gazette.
