A mild drama ensued at the Kaduna State High Court on Tuesday when a former lecturer with the Kaduna State University, John Danfulani, went dumb during his trial.
Mr. Danfulani is standing trial before Justice Bilkisu Mohammed for posting what the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, considered as hate speech on his Facebook page.
Shortly after his case was mentioned, the fiery Kaduna teacher told the court no lawyer anywhere was willing to defend him.
“I have gone round looking for someone to defend me but no lawyer is willing to take up my case and defend me before this court,” Mr. Danfulani had told the judge.
Despite the fact he had no legal representation, the State Deputy Director of Prosecution, Isiaka Muhammed, insisted the trial should continue because Mr. Danfulani was under cross-examination when his lawyers withdrew from the case.
At that point, Justice Muhammed asked the accused former lecturer about his capacity to defend himself at the next adjourned date, but he would not say a word.
The situation in the court became tensed when Mr. Danfulani would not answer further questions from the judge and the prosecution counsel
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Apparently worried at the development, the trial judge hastily adjourned the case till May 17, to enable the accused to gain comportment and continue with the trial.
Speaking with journalists outside the court, Mr. Danfulani said he was facing what he described as “judicial terrorism,” adding that he was being tried because of his religion.
“This is judicial terrorism and I am being persecuted because I am a Christian. I have written a petition to the Chief Judge of Kaduna State, pointing out that I am unlikely to get justice from the present judge,” he said.
“I pleaded that the case be transferred to another judge. But to my surprise, the case was returned to her. If she (judge) has no interest why can’t she quit or ask another judge to handle the case? All the lawyers I contacted said they cannot defend me in her court.
“This is the first time a judge is refusing to step down even when my first lawyer withdrew from the case. No force on earth can intimidate me because we are not under the apartheid regime in Nigeria,” he said.
Mr. Danfulani was arrested on January 26, 2016, and later arraigned before Chief Magistrate Court 1 in Kaduna, presided over by Awallu Musa in Case No. KDH/KAD/102c/20016.
He was charged for allegedly posting comments on his Facebook wall that insulted Governor El-Rufai and the people of Northern Nigeria.
The action was said to have violated Sections 417 and 418 of the Penal Code Laws of the Federation
After series of appearances, the Magistrate, Mr. Musa finally discharged and acquitted him on August 9, 2016.
However, on October 26, 2016, he was re-arrested and immediately arraigned before Justice Mohammed, who ordered him to be remanded in the Kaduna Central Prison while she travelled for a conference outside the state.
Mr. Danfulani was forced to spend 13 days in prison custody and was granted bail after the judge returned to Kaduna.
But things started going badly for the accused when his first lawyer, Yakubu Umaru, on February 5, raised doubts about the possibility of the accused having justice before the trial judge.
Mr. Umaru had openly protested that the trial judge showed so much interest in the case and, therefore, urged her to withdraw from the case.
Subsequently, another legal practitioner, James Kanyip, who took up Mr. Danfulani’s case also left on the ground that the presiding judge was anything but impartial.
Meanwhile, the case of the former Vanguard Bureau Chief in Kaduna, Luka Binniyat, also came up on Tuesday before Justice Mairoa Mohammed of the Kaduna High Court 3.
The matter was, however, adjourned till May 24 because the lead counsel to the journalist, Elisha Kura (SAN) was not in court.
Mr. Binniyat was remanded in Prison Custody for 93 days due to the stringent bail conditions set by late Justice Bashir Sukola of Kaduna High Court 9.
He only regained his freedom when the bail terms were reviewed on October 8, 2017, barely two weeks before Justice Sukola passed away on October 25 of the same year.
The case was, however, transferred to Justice Mairo Mohammed, while his first appearance before the judge was on January, 31.
