Legal Nigeria

Police arrest, detain late President Yar’Adua’s son for killing four people

NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA 

Former President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua
Late former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua

The late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s son, 36-year-old Aminu, has been arrested for killing four people in Yola.

On Thursday, a magistrates’ court in Yola remanded Mr Yar’Adua in prison custody for crushing four people to death in an auto crash in Yola.

The late president’s son, a student of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), was charged to court for causing death by dangerous driving on June 23, this year.

According to the police, First Information Report (FIR) tendered in court by the prosecutor, Zakka Musa, Mr Yar’Adua, had, while driving along Yola bypass on June 23, crushed six people as a result of speeding.

The court heard that four of the victims died, and two were injured in the crash. Police records indicated that the victims were from Sabon Pegi, Yola South local government area.

”Those that died in the accident were identified as Aisha Umar (30), Aisha Mamadu (32), Suleiman Abubakar (2), and Jummai Abubakar (30), while Rejoice Annu (28) and Hajara Aliyu (27) sustained injuries,” the FIR said.

The prosecuting officer told the court that the relatives of the killed crash victims demanded N15 million from the defendant as compensation.

But, when the FIR was read to the defendant as prayed by the prosecutor, he denied committing the offence, describing the allegation as untrue.

At that point, the prosecutor pleaded with the court to adjourn the matter to enable him to duplicate the case file and forward it to the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice.

The magistrate, Jummai Ibrahim, granted the prosecution’s request and adjourned the matter until August 19 for further mention.

She ordered that the ex-president’s son be remanded in prison custody.

His father, a former governor of Katsina (between 1999 and 2007), became Nigeria’s president after his tenure as a governor. He died in office after a protracted illness that almost threw the country into political turmoil because his allies refused to reveal his incapacity to continue to govern.

(NAN)