The Sokoto State Police Command on Monday, arraigned two suspected killers of Miss Deborah Yakubu at a Sokoto Chief Magistrate’s Court for allegedly killing their course mate, after she was accused of blaspheming Prophet Muhammed.
A total of 34 lawyers represented the accused killers and stood as defence counsels during the arraignment of the suspects for the first time since their arrest on Friday.
It was gathered that one Mansur Ibrahim led the team of 34 lawyers to defend the suspects who were docked at a Sokoto Chief Magistrate’s Court for their alleged lynching of their victim.
The suspects, Bilyaminu Aliyu and Aminu Hukunci, coursemates of the deceased, alleged to have lynched the deceased pleaded “not guilty” to the crime.
The prosecuting counsel, Inspector Khalil Musa, told the court that an investigation was in progress as Deborah’s corpse was still in a morgue at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto.
However, following the “no guilty” submission of the accused killers, their lawyers, led by Prof. Mansur Ibrahim, applied for their bail on liberal terms, stating constitutional provisions and sections of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law.
The judge (name withheld for security reasons) reserved ruling on the bail application and ordered the accused to be remanded at a correctional centre, Sokoto till next trial date.
Deborah Yakubu was lynched by an irate mob on Thursday. The arrest of her suspected killers resulted in a violent protest when some Muslim youths and hoodlums took to the streets of Sokoto, destroying properties and Churches.
The Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, immediately, imposed a 24-hour curfew on Sokoto metropolis on Saturday to prevent a degeneration.