…as rights lawyer say he took law into his hands
By Gloria Ikibah
The Bauchi State Commissioner for Water Resources, Abdulrazak Zaki, has confirmed that the child he was accused of abducting is in his custody.
While speaking to journalists in Bauchi on Saturday, Zaki admitted that his son and policemen attached to him took the child from her school two weeks ago.
His ex-wife, Ikilima Soro, had earlier petitioned the Inspector General of Police, claiming her child was taken on January 20, 2025, and alleged that masked policemen intercepted the school bus, took the child by force, and drove off in a car with covered license plates.
In response, Zaki stated that Governor Bala Mohammed and the Commissioner of Police Bauchi State, Auwal Mohammed, supported his actions, which he said were based on a Sharia court ruling granting him custody.
However, the Bauchi State High Court had ordered all parties to maintain the status quo until the Sharia Court of Appeal ruled on the matter. Despite this, Zaki admitted to enrolling the 8-year-old child in a boarding school in Gombe State, in defiance of the high court’s ruling, which had granted temporary custody to the mother.
Reacting to the situation, human rights lawyer and public interest attorney, Marshall Abubakar criticized the Commissioner’s action, and said that he took the law into his own hands. He also pointed out that the Terrorism Prevention Act 2010 criminalizes forcefully seizing a person or intercepting transportation.
Abubakar further stressed that the Bauchi State High Court has superior jurisdiction over the Sharia court, meaning its ruling should take precedence.