Court remands Yar’Adua’s son for allegedly crushing four to death

Umaru Yar'Adua

A Magistrate’s Court in Yola on Thursday remanded Aminu Yar’Adua, 36, son of late former President Umaru Yar’Adua in prison for allegedly killing four people in an auto crash in Yola.

Yar’Adua, a student of the American University of Nigeria (AUN) Yola, was charged to court for allegedly causing death by dangerous driving on June 23, 2021.

According to the police’s first information report (FIR) tendered in court by the prosecutor, Inspector Zakka Musa, the accused had, while driving along Yola bye pass on 23 June, 2021, crushed six people as a result of overspeeding.

The court heard that four of the victims were killed and the other two were injured in the accident, with the victims all hailing from Sabon Pegi, Yola South Local Government Area.

”Those that died in the accident were identified as; Aisha Umar (30), Aisha Mamadu (32), Suleiman Abubakar(2) and Jummai Abubakar (30), while, Rejoice Annu (28) and Hajara Aliyu(27) sustained injuries,” according to the FIR.

The prosecuting officer told the court that the relatives of late Aisha Umar, Suleiman Abubakar and Jummai Abubakar had demanded the sum of N15 million from the defendant as compensation.

But, when the FIR was read to the defendant as prayed by the prosecutor, he denied committing the offence, describing the allegation as untrue.

At that point, the prosecutor pleaded with the court to adjourn the matter, to enable him duplicate the case file and forward to the department of public prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice.

The magistrate Jummai Ibrahim granted the prosecution’s request and adjourned the matter to August 19, 2021, for further mention, and ordered that the ex-president’s son be remanded in prison custody until then.