Kaduna, 15 January, 2022 / 1:00 pm (ACI Africa).
The leadership of the UK-based human rights foundation, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), has denounced delays in the court process of a Nigerian journalist who has been detained since November last year for allegedly criticizing Kaduna State government's laxed approach to insecurity.
The court ruling for Luka Binniyat who, in his article published by the Epoque Times faulted the Kaduna State government’s response to the 26 September 2021 attacks, has been adjourned multiple times after the judge failed to attend scheduled hearings.
“The unwarranted delays in his court hearings seem to be punitive actions designed to deprive him of his liberty for as long as possible, and in a manner incompatible with judicial impartiality and due process,” CSW Founder President, Mervyn Thomas says in a January 7 report.
Mr. Binniyat was taken to the Barnawa Magistrate Court on 8 November 2021 and charged under the Cybercrimes Act. The next day, his lawyers applied for bail but it was denied.
The Nigerian journalist who serves as the spokesperson for the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) was brought to court on November 22 but the judge was absent.