Twenty students of the Kogi State
Polytechnic have been remanded in prison
custody by a Lokoja Magistrates Court over
rioting and murder of a senior lecturer of
the institution, Mr Nathaniel Abimaje.

During the court session, the
police prosecutor, Samuel Ikutanwa, told the
court that on April 19, the accused persons
incited some unidentified students of the
institution to riot over the setting up of a
panel to look into the case of a student who
was involved in examination malpractice.
He told the court that the accused persons
were armed with dangerous weapons such
as axes, guns and cutlasses. He further
alleged that the students went on rampage
and stabbed Abimaje severally.

“They were protesting the setting up of a
panel to look into the case of examination
malpractice. During the rampage, the
accused beat and stabbed Abimaje severally
and left him in a pool of his blood. The
lecturer was rushed to the Specialist
Hospital, Lokoja, but died before he could
receive medical attention,” Ikutanwa said.
The prosecutor said investigation revealed
that a long-standing dispute between Igala
and Ebira students in the institution also
fuelled the crisis. He urged the court to
remand the accused in prison custody.

The accused persons who were charged
with criminal conspiracy, inciting
disturbance of public peace, rioting and
culpable homicide, pleaded not guilty to the
charges.

Counsel to the accused, J.E. Usman Esq. asked
the court to exercise its discretion and grant
the accused bail on the ground that an
accused is presumed innocent until proven
otherwise.

In his ruling Chief Magistrate Levi Animoku
said the offence of culpable homicide which
the accused were charged with carries
death penalty under Section 221 of the Penal
Code and was not bailable.

He said he had no discretion to exercise in
the matter as the offence was a capital one,
adding that Section 35(7)(a) of the 1999
constitution provides that presumption of
innocence was not absolute, especially in a
case of culpable homicide. Animoku ordered
that the accused be remanded at Federal
Prisons, Kabba, and adjourned the case to
May 21 for further mention.

Source: DailyTrust