By AbdulSalam Muhammad

KANO—Bello Garba Bello (Baba), the 22-year-old son of Garba Bello, the slain State Security Service, SSS, officer alleged to have slaughtered his biological parents alongside three siblings in Kano last week was, yesterday, docked before a Magistrate court in Kano.

It could be recalled that the people of Kano metropolis woke up to hear about the cruel murder of the SSS family by unknown assasins.

The suspected mass murderer, who was brought to court in chains, drew the ire of the presiding Magistrate, Khadiza Dahiru Mustapha, who ordered the chain remove before commencement of proceedings.

Bello was charged for culpable homicide contrary to Section 221 under the Penal Code, and could face death penalty if convicted.

Prosecuting Officer read the charges before the accused alleged to have owned up to the killing last week. He denied the content of the charges and pleaded not guilty.

Bello who looked remorseful and spoke in low tone was compelled by the Magistrate to raise his voice in the interest of the proceeding.

Jurisdiction issues

In a twist to the high profile murder case, the Principal State Counsel, Isa Yusuf, told the Court that it had no jurisdiction to try the case, and requested it transferred to the higher court.

According to the Principal State Counsel, he said he had two application, praying the court for an order directing the Kano State Commissioner of Police to send the original copy of dairy to the Attorney-General of Kano State and an order of the court remanding the accused person in prison custody pending the outcome of the advice of the Attorney-General.

State Counsel submitted that his application is brought under Section 147 of CPC Law of Kano State 1991 as amended.

In her ruling, the Chief Magistrate, Khadiza Dahiru Mustapha granted the two applications and ordered the Registrar of the court to write to the commissioner of police, Kano state to send the original case dairy to Attorney General and order the accused person to be remanded till 7th October, 2010.

Meanwhile, some family members who were surprised about the revelations, urged the Police to dig more into the incident, insisting that the young Bello cannot be the only one behind the killings.