Katsina court orders Shehu to appear on Dec 23

A Kaduna-based business mogul, Mahdi Shehu, on Wednesday has been ordered by a Sharia Upper High Court based in Katsina, to appear before it on December 23.

The Alkali (Chief Judge), Alhaji Sagir Saidu Imam, who gave the order while ruling on a suit filed by the Secretary to Katsina State Government (SSG), Mustapha Inuwa, accusing Shehu of defamation of character, ordered him to appear on December 23 to react to the allegations levelled against him.

Briefing reporters after the ruling, counsel to SSG Abubakar Ibrahim of the Malikiya Chambers in Kaduna State, said they were satisfied with the ruling.

He said: “The complainant filed the case against the defendant under Section 183 of the Sharia Penal Code for defamation of character. The summon as issued by this honourable court, to be served on the defendant, was taken to his jurisdiction in Abuja, after which an endorsement was made by the court that he was served accordingly.

“When the case came up on Wednesday, the defendant was not in court, but his counsel, A. Machika, was in court and filed a preliminary injunction challenging the mode of service. Although they acknowledged that indeed service was affected, the address written was not the actual address where the defendant was found.

“After series of argument in court, laws and judicial authorities were cited and the court, in its ruling, affirmed that the services were good and perfect on the defendant and acknowledged the delivery of service.