The inmate populations of the Kuje and Suleija Correctional Service facilities galloped, Tuesday, as Justice Sulaiman Belgore of the Federal High Court, sitting in Apo, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), ordered that 60 members of the proscribed Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as the Shi’ite Group, be remanded in them.
The detainees, all members of the proscribed IMN, were arrested during the July 22 violent protest at the Federal Secretariat area of Abuja in which a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Usman Umar, and a reporter and corps member with the Channels Television, Precious Owolabi, were killed.
The detainees were arrested during the bloody fracas by the FCT Command of the Nigerian Police Force. They charged with offences bordering on homicide, disturbances of public peace and destruction of government properties on November 27, 2019.
All the 60 pleaded not guilty to the charges, setting the stage for their full trial.
When the case resumed, Tuesday, Justice Belgore remanded 54 of the defendants, all males, in Kuje correctional facility, while the remaining six, all females, were ordered to be kept in Suleja correctional facility.
