By Felicia Udeji
The Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, on Wednesday, disclosed that corruption charges documents on former Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje were stolen when the state High Court was attacked during the nationwide strike against bad governance.
He made this known while on an on-the-spot assessment of the Kano State High Court, which was vandalised, looted and razed amid the recent nationwide hunger protest, which turned violent in parts of the North.
Yusuf, during the tour, regretted the invasion and destruction of the state high court by hoodlums, lamenting that “the hired miscreants carted away corruption charges documents on former Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who has been facing multiple charges before the state high court.”
According to a statement on Wednesday by the governor’s spokesperson, Sanusi Tofa, the governor was conducted round the court premises by the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Dederi, the Chief Registrar of the high court, Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero, and some judges.
Yusuf said. “It is very unfortunate that enemies of Kano State hired undesirable elements to vandalise one of the historic public buildings with a mission to subvert the corruption charges against the acting National Chairman of the APC and former governor of the state, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, his family and aides,”
According to the statement, the hoodlums “destroyed virtually all units of the high court, including the office of the state Chief Judge, with loss amounting to more than N1bn through the stealing of office equipment, destroying offices, burning cars and other relevant materials crucial to the dispensation of justice.”
Governor Yusuf called on youths in the state to desist from being used by detractors to engage in violence but to rather concentrate on skills acquisition to better their future, promising them the government’s support.
He ordered the immediate rehabilitation of the courthouse and the deployment of more security to ensure effective justice delivery.
The management of the state high court had in a statement on August 4 lamented the invasion and vandalism.
The spokesperson for the court, Baba Ibrahim, recalled that on August 1, rioters, who claimed to be #EndBadGovernment protesters broke into the premises of the headquarters of the state high court, vandalised offices and “stole an unspecified amount of money and guns seized from kidnappers and kept as exhibits in ongoing cases.”
Ibrahim said, “Private and official vehicles parked on the premises of the court were razed, while some were vandalised by the protesters.
“Offices, including that of the Chief Judge and other judges in the court, were vandalised. The protesters destroyed the new and old case files and scattered everything in the buildings.
“Exhibits, including guns kept in the court’s store, were also looted.
“This is the first time the Kano State Judiciary has witnessed such an incident. Vehicles parked on the court’s promises were also vandalised, and looted.”