There was a mild drama at the premises of the Minna Chief Magistra court on Wednesday, as a dismissed Police Inspector, Fajuyi Gbenga who was standing trial in a case of culpable homicide, was discharged from the court as a result of the legal advice from the State Director of Public Prosecution ( DPP) in the State Ministry of Justice.
The dismissed Inspector was earlier arraigned before the Minna Chief Magistrate court sometime in the Month of May 2020, on a two count charge which bodered on incest and culpable homicide.
An offemce which contravened Section 39 and 221 of the penal code law which one of the charges carried death penalty if found guilty by court of competent jurisdiction.
He was alledged to have been having canal knowledge with his own biological daughter at the age of 13 and put her in a family way at the aged of 17.
When the daughter was put to bed in the early 2020, he took the new born baby to a nearby river bank and killed her and buried her in a shallow grave to cover up his criminal act.
When he was earlier arraigned before the court, he was ordered to be remanded in the Minna correctional Centre on the order of Chief Magistrate Nasir Mu’azu and directed that his case file should be duplicated and forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), for legal opinion.
The magistrate opined that je lacked jurisdiction to try the case of culpable homicide, “this court has no jurisdiction to try the case. I’m just to holding pre-trial into the case.
“When the legal opinion comes out, the appropriate court of competent jurisdiction will take over the case from my court”.
The accused was then ordered to be remanded in the correctional centre pending the outcome of the legal opinion.
When the legal opinion came out after nine days from the office of the DPP Tuesday, he was exenorated from the offences and discharged accordingly by the Chief Magistrate. While the legal opinion advices that his wife that the biological mother of his daughter should be prosecuted for concealment of information.
However, the drama ensued when he was to leave the court premises, he was immediately whisked away by some detectives on court duty led by the prosecutor Mallam Ahmed Saidu Kongoma,ASP and was handcuffed back to the state Criminal Investigation Department (,SCID) where he would be re-arraign before the court for fresh charges.
Meanwhile, CAPITAL POST gathered from the State Investigation Department ( SCID) headquarters in Dutse Kira Minna that the dismissed Police Inspector under interrogation told the team of detectives that he bought his way out through the investigative police officer ( IPOs) , who took his statement when he was earlier arrested.
It was further gathered that he told his interrogators that he sold his car and part of his savings in bank to bribe his way which was why the legal opinion from the office of DPP favoured him.
Already, the operatives of the Homicide Squad of the SCID have commenced full investigation to fish out those IPOs involved in taking the alledged bribe from the dismissed Inspector.
When contacted for his comments, the State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), in the State Ministry of Justice, Barrister Moses Chiroma told the CAPITAL POST that his legal opinion was based on the findings of the legal department of the SICID and the contents of the case file brought to his office.
He said: “I’m not the investigative police officers (IPOs), that investigated the case.
“I only give my own legal opinion from the file they brought to my office and is not within my purview to just go and give legal advice outside what is brought before me.
“So The legal advice was based on the IPOs that investigated the case.” he told CAPITAL POST.
