From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
The leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibraheem EL-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, yesterday, insisted that there was no case against them.
Zakzaky and his wife have been standing trial since December 2015, following the clash between his followers and the convoy of the then Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Burutai in Zaria. However, the Judge, Justice Gideon Kurada has adjourned the case till May 25 for ruling on no case submission.
At the resumed hearing yesterday, the prosecution closed its case by calling its last witness, bringing the total number of prosecution witnesses to 15.
Fielding questions from newsmen shortly after the court session, leading counsel to IMN leader, Femi Falana (SAN), represented by Marshal Abubakar said, “Eventually, they called the last witness today, there are 15 witnesses. So the last was called today, to testify to the happenings and events of the said 12 and 14 December 2015.
“The State eventually closed its case today. They have asked for a day to enter our defence. We would be consulting with our client.
“There has been no case submission, so far, what we filed earlier on was a motion to quash and trash before the commencement of the trial. But at this stage, the state has, indeed, called their witnesses and it is our view that there is no case, so far, established against the defendants.
“Filing an application to ask the court to declare that the defendants do not really have to call witness in the ongoing trial, but to have them enter into ‘no case submission’ because, so far, based on the evidence advanced this far, all the 15 Witnesses in our estimation had not made submission or given evidence that incriminate the defendants. So, it is an up case that we would be entering ‘no case submission”.
Director of Public Prosecution, Mr Dari Bayero, also told newsmen that, “The State called 15 witnesses to prove their case against the accused persons. He expressed confidence that justice would prevail at the end of proceeding.
“The State finally rested its case by calling the last witness; it intended to call for this trial. The State closed its case and the defence had intended to recall making a no case submission and defending at the same time. Th