N9V TV
Dr Suleiman Sabah, the father of 16-year-old Fatima Suleiman whose leg was amputated after being knocked down by a teenage driver in Sokoto said the culprit’s parents didn’t show remorse for what their son did.
The student of Khalifa International Model was hit by the culprit identified as Aliyu Sunusi Umar, hours after writing her final exams. The driver, said to be 18, was later arrested and arraigned before a magistrate court which granted him bail last Thursday.
The police rearrested and rearraigned the culprit on Monday, August 22. They also amended the charges for the second time and the new charges included grievous hurt.
The new magistrate remanded the culprit in the Sokoto Correctional Centre till next Monday when the case would come up for further hearing.
Speaking to Daily Trust on the bail, Dr. Sabah wondered why the court would grant bail to the driver while his daughter was still in the hospital.”The parents of the driver who claimed to be 18 did not show any remorse over what their child did,” he said.
“In fact, they only visited my daughter three times since the incident happened. When I arrived Sokoto, I and my lawyer sat with the parents of the child based on request of their lawyer who wanted the matter settled out of court. During the meeting, we agreed that my daughter would be taken abroad where she would get the best treatment and an artificial limb,” he said.
“We contacted three hospitals. One in Germany, one in Dubai and another one in England and we sent them all the necessary documents. As we are waiting for their response, I learnt that the case was transferred to the state’s CID and the state Commissioner of Police later summoned us to his office.
“After listening to us, he faulted the boy and ordered for prosecution. So, I received a call from the police that the case would be taken to a magistrate court for mention and when I and my lawyer went there, we were told that the presiding magistrate ordered the prosecuting police officer to go and amend the charges because it contained culpable homicide
“From the amended charges, I knew that the case was being compromised because there is nothing like grievous body injury and the magistrate granted the suspect bail. We later complained to the Attorney General of the state who asked us to write a petition against the magistrate and the police and this is what we are doing now,” he said.
Meanwhile, the pokesman of the school, Mr Ineke Joseph, said Fatima was one of their brilliant students who was even pencilled down for award during their Speech and Prize Giving day which has been postponed in her honour.
“After the incident, we summoned an emergency meeting of parents and it was agreed the event should be postponed pending the time she is fully recovered. We hope and pray for her quick recovery because we want her to participate in the event,” he said.
Joseph, who described the incident as unfortunate, said they were lucky that there weren’t more casualties based on what they saw in the video of the accident.
According to him, the police investigation showed that Fatima was sitting 13 meters away from the main road when the incident occurred.
“So, she was not standing or sitting close to the main road. She was sitting with her friend on the staircase leading to our conference room,” he added.
While stating that the driver was not their student nor has any relation in the school, Joseph said the school has, however, taken both structural and non-structural measures to avert the reoccurrence of the ugly incident.
“We have bought drums which were stone-filled and cemented. They would be used to barricade the school from the main road. And we have contacted the relevant authorities on the need to construct speed bumps and put zebra signs on the road,” he stated.
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