Court Remands Journalists In Police Custody …Over Killing of Nine Health Workers

A Magistrate Court in Kano on Tuesday remanded two journalists and one other person for allegedly making comments on radio that incited the killing of nine vaccinators in the state.

Chief Magistrate Ibrahim Bello of Magistrate Court 17 Gyadi-Gadi ordered for the continued detention of Yakubu Musa Fagge, Mubarak Muhammad Sani of Wazobia FM and the other person Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges, while their defence counsel, Musa Adamu Aliyu applied for their bail, citing relevant sections of the constitution and other cases.

According to the prosecutor, the journalists allegedly made comments on radio which “show that polio immunisations were an anti-Islam western conspiracy to cause infertility in women.”

The statement was allegedly made on Hausa Programme Sandar Girma two days before the nine female workers administering the polio immunization vaccines were killed.

The vaccinators were shot dead in two separate attacks.

Although no one claimed responsibility, Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, is known to have condemned western education.

It is feared that the killing could hamper efforts by international organizations to rid the Northern part of Nigeria of the polio virus.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives in Abuja yesterday condemned the killing of nine female health workers in Kano.

It urged the Federal Government to adequately compensate the families of the deceased.

The House further called on security operatives to put proactive measures in place to protect health workers in high risk areas.

These resolutions emanated from a motion by Rep. Munir Danagundi ( PDP-Kano), which was adopted.

It will be recalled that nine female health workers were on February 8, killed in a twin attack by gunmen at Tarauni and Nasarawa local government areas of Kano State.

According to him, the killing of health personnel could distract the Federal Government from its objective of accelerating the reduction of maternal and child mortality in the country.

Munir said that the attack, which also left four female workers injured were executed by gunmen on tricycles.

In another motion, the House urged the Federal Ministry of Works to immediately repair and rehabilitate the River Niger bridge to avoid its collapse.

It further urged the Federal Government to employ the services of a competent contractor to commence the construction of a second Niger Bridge.

This was sequel to a motion moved by Rep. Ezenwa Onyewuchi (PDP-Imo), which was unanimously adopted without debate.

According to Onyewuchi, the eventual collapse of the bridge will lead to the death of many Nigerians and motorists.

He said that if the bridge was allowed to collapse, it would further lead to the dislocation and disruption of commercial activities in that section of the country.

The legislator said that the promise by past and the present governments to construct a second bridge across the River Niger had been a mirage.

Meanwhile, the House will receive the Super Eagles at its plenary session tomorrow in recognition of their emergence as African Champions at the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa.