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Suspected Killers of Agbahime in Kano Freed

As expected, all the five suspected killers of Mrs Bridget Agbahime, 74, in Kano on June 2 over allegations of blasphemy have been discharged and acquitted.

A Kano court did the deed on Thursday. Chief Magistrate Muhammad Jibril discharged the five suspects and terminated the case as advised by the attorney-general of Kano State.

The suspects – Dauda Ahmed, Abdulmumeen Mustafa, Zubairu Abubakar, Abdullahi Abubakar and Musa Abdullahi —  had been facing a four-count charge of inciting disturbance, culpable homicide, joint act and mischief.

Mrs. Agbahime, from Imo State, was murdered in Kofar Wambai Market in Kano after she asked those washing their genitals in front of her shop to leave. They said she had blasphemed against Islam and slaughtered her like a goat.

Earlier, the principal state counsel, Rabiu Yusuf, representing the attorney-general of Kano State, told the court that they received the case diary from the police on June 8. “Having gone through the case diary, the attorney- general of Kano State evaluated the facts in accordance with Sections 130 and150 of the Criminal Procedure Code, presented the legal advice,” Mr. Yusuf said. “The legal advice presented to the court, dated June 24, states that there is no case to answer as the suspects are all innocent and orders the court to discharge all the suspects.”

The case followed a familiar pattern. Though thousands of people have lost their lives in northern Nigeria on allegations of blasphemy, nobody has ever been convicted for murdering a “blasphemer”.

–With agency reports

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