Court Remands Famous University Lecturer Over Boko Haram

Kogi State University lecturer, Muhammad Nazeef, who is accused of having links with the Boko Haram, has been denied bail by an Abuja High Court on Friday.


 *Nazeef
Apart from Nazeef, two others were also denied bail and they are, Salami Abdullahi and Umar Musa.
The judge, Gabriel Kolawole, while condemning the recent student massacre in a Federal Government College, Buni yadi, Yobe State, said it was the duty of the court to assist the government in addressing security issues in the country.
Mr. Kolawole said the consistent killings in the North East was one of the reasons for denying the suspects bail.
While stating that the court had the discretion to grant bail, Mr. Kolawale said that exerting such depends on the gravity of the charges, punishment, criminal record of the accused persons, and the possibility that the accused persons might commit the same offence again.
“I am a bit constrained that granting the accused persons bail will be very strict, but to do this will lead to the court imposing outlandish bail conditions.
“This may not be a period for the court to embark on fanciful and sterile judicial analysis so that the court cannot send out wrong signals,” Mr. Kolawale said.
He granted an accelerated hearing of case and said trial will commence on March 18.
Mr. Nazeef, a lecturer in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Kogi State University, was on November 20, 2013 paraded alongside four others by the SSS, at its headquarters in Abuja. The suspects were accused of running a Boko Haram cell with Mr. Nazeef as leader.
His daughter, Summayya Muhammad, also stated later that her father had always condemned the Boko Haram’s activities and that tapes of his messages could prove that.