A magistrates’ court sitting in Kano on Thursday denied bail to the two suspects who allegedly brutalised two-year-old Musa Murtala in the city on May 10.

The suspects: Hafsatu Musa, 35, and Zainab Murtala, 20, were charged with criminal conspiracy and attempt to commit culpable homicide, contrary to Sections 248 and 229 of the Penal Code.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the counsel to the suspects, Muktar Shehu, was absent in court.

The judge, Chief Magistrate Maryam Sabo, ordered the prosecutor to duplicate the case file and forwarded a copy to the State Department of Public Prosecutions (DPPs) for legal advice.

He also ordered that the accused persons to be remanded in prison custody pending the receipt of the DPPs’ advice.

She also ordered the prosecutor and Husaina Bashir, the counsel representing the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in Kano to monitor the case diary at the DPPs’ office.

Sabo then adjourned the case to August 16 for further mention.

Earlier, the police prosecutor, Insp. Shuaibu Musa, had opposed bail for the suspects citing the gravity of the offences.

“The two suspects: Hafsatu and Zainab of Rimin Gado Village on May 10, conspired and broke the two hands and one of the legs of two-year-old Musa.

“The victim was under the custody of his grandmother, Hafsatu when the accused committed the offence.” (NAN)