The Katsina State Police Command on Wednesday arraigned 28-year-old Adamu Haruna before a Senior Magistrates’ Court for allegedly leading a gang of cattle rustlers terrorizing communities in the state.
The Police First Information Report, FIR, has it that the accused who resides at Danke village of Safana Local Government Area of the state, was arrested by the State’s Anti-Cattle Rustling Team on September 11 at about 9.30 p.m in Marmara village.
“The soldiers, under the command of Maj. Hamza Abdullahi, arrested the suspect, following a tip-off that the suspect had been organising the theft of cows and terrorising the villagers who owned the cows.
“When accosted by the soldiers in his hide-out at Marmara village, the accused failed to give any satisfactory explanation about his business or involvement in cattle rustling,” the FIR added.
The prosecutor, Insp. Hashimu Musa, said the offence contravened Section 306 of the Penal Code Law and told the court that the police was still investigating the matter.
The Court Magistrate, Nafisah Bagiwa, said that the court would not take the plea of the accused, as it had no Jurisdiction to do so.
Bagiwa noted that the accused is facing a one-count charge of leading a gang of thieves that specialized in cattle rustling, explaining that the accused was arraigned before the court for the purpose of cognisance only.
The Magistrate, however, ordered the case file to be forwarded to the state Ministry of Justice for advice, directing the police to continue with the investigation.
Bagiwa adjourned the case to October 27 for further hearing.
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