Kano State High Court on Wednesday restricted access to journalists from covering the proceedings of Hanifa Abubakar’s murder case.
Hanifa, a schoolgirl, was abducted late last year and allegedly killed by her teacher Abdulmaliq Tanko in Kano.
Facing trial alongside Tanko are Hasymu and Fatima.
Although there was no clear directive from the court stopping journalists from covering the hearing before Justice Usman Na’aba, a source told journalists that the restriction was occasioned by a security witness who pleaded to give account in “secret”.
However, the Kano State attorney-general and commissioner for justice Musa Lawan told the press that the restriction would be lifted at the end of the witness’s testimony.
The suspects were charged with criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, concealing/keeping in confinement a kidnapped person and culpable homicide, offences contrary to Sections 97, 274, 277 and 221 of the Penal Code.
The judge had fixed March 2 and 3 for the commencement of the hearing and ordered the accused to be remanded at a correctional centre.
