Police Fail To Produce Witnesses In Gombe Trafficking Case

The chief magistrate of Bogo Court VIII, Gombe State, Japheth Maida, on Wednesday adjourned the case involving a human right activist, Musa Ali-Maishanu, and the commissioner of police to 4th January 2023, due to failure of the prosecution to complete investigation.

Ali-Maishanu, the regional coordinator of an international non-governmental organisation, Global Pan-Africanism Network Nigeria (GPAN), who is on bail, was arraigned by the police for threatening to organise a protest against the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

LEADERSHIP Friday reports that Ali-Maishanu allegedly threatened NAPTIP with protest for allegedly refusing to treat with justice a case of a 27-year-old woman, Hauwa’u Musa, popularly known as ‘Ladidi,’ who was taken from the state since she was underaged to Adamawa and married off, when she became an adult without the consent of her parents.

The threat led to his arrest and prosecution and the case was adjourned to December 7 but due to the failure of the police to present witnesses, the sitting was stalled.

Prosecution Counsel, Barrister Musa Kumo had on 2nd of November requested the chief magistrate for additional time, for police to complete investigation, stressing that authorities were yet to conclude investigation.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with our correspondent shortly after the court sitting, Barrister Ibrahim Ambore-Nuhu, counsel to the defendant explained that he chose to concede to the application of prosecution counsel, while assuring that he would file application for the case to be struck out for want of diligent prosecution.

The defense counsel noted that for the past four court appearances, the police had shown that it have no witness to support the prosecution.