By LAWAL TAOFEEK

Upper Sharia Court I, sitting in Birnin Kebbi, has ordered the remand of a 29-year-old man, Abubakar Musa, at the Correctional Centre for alleged desecration of the Holy Quran in Zango Area, Zuru.

The accused, who was arraigned before Justice Sadiq Usman-Kalgo on Friday, pleaded guilty to the offence read to him.

Arraigning the accused, the Police Prosecutor, Insp. Usman Hassan, told the court that the offence was contrary to Sections 60, 183, 186 and 78 of the Sharia Court Law of 2021 as amended.

Hassan said the accused committed the offence on 9th August, 2026, at about 1900hrs, in Zango Area, Zuru.

He said preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect allegedly conspired with two others, Rabi’u Tela, husband of Zarau Hassan, and Hamza Zango, both now at large, to dig a pit inside Zarau Hassan’s room.

“They allegedly buried therein a copy of the Holy Quran, together with semen, white and red kolanuts, underwear, dead animals and other fetish items,” he revealed.

He said the act was allegedly intended to make Zarau Hassan more submissive to her husband, Rabi’u Tela, and was carried out in circumstances capable of provoking a breach of the peace among Muslim faithful in the community.

The prosecutor added that efforts were ongoing to arrest the two other suspects who were still at large.

When the charges were read to the accused, he admitted the allegations.

Musa told the court that it was Rabi’u Tela who approached him to perform the ritual.

The accused said his friend, Hamza Zango, testified that he had done a similar ritual for him in the past and it worked.

He further told the court that the husband promised to pay him N70,000 but fled with his mobile phone and did not pay him any money before his arrest.

The Assistant Director of Public Prosecution from the State Ministry of Justice, Aminu Seidu-Diri, announced his appearance in the case.

He cited Section 121 of the Administration of Criminal Justice, which empowers the Ministry of Justice to take over prosecution.

Seidu-Diri told the court that the ministry would take over the case file from the police and forward it to the Office of the Attorney General of the State for legal advice.

He appealed to the court for an adjournment to enable the ministry to study the case and to allow the police to arrest the two suspects at large.

In his ruling, Justice Sadiq Usman-Kalgo granted the request and ordered that the accused be remanded at the correctional facility in Birnin Kebbi.

He adjourned the case to September 9, for further hearing. (NAN)

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