Hamdiyyah Sharif, an 18-year-old who criticised Ahmad Aliyu, the governor of Sokoto State, for negligence and his handling of insecurity, has been declared missing.
Abba Hikma, Sharif’s legal counsel, raised the alarm on Wednesday. He stated that Sharif had gone to buy foodstuffs in Sokoto on Tuesday and had not returned or been seen since then.
“Hamdiyya has been missing since 10 am yesterday. She left home to buy foodstuffs in Sokoto and has not been seen since. The Sokoto State Police has already been informed,” Hikma wrote on his Facebook page.
Sharif’s prosecution by the state government began in November after she urged internally displaced persons (IDPs) to occupy the governor’s office in protest in a now-deleted TikTok video.
Following that video post, she was arrested by the Sokoto Police on November 13 and accused of “use of insulting or abusive language” and “inciting disturbance”.
Sharif eventually issued a public apology and also retracted her statement urging IDPs to occupy government property.
After her arrest, Sharif was abducted by armed men and whisked into a tricycle while on her way to collect her mobile phone from a charging point. She was beaten and thrown off a moving tricycle and left with severe injuries.
She was first charged before a Sharia Court before appearing in front of a Magistrate Court in February.
Magistrate Faruk Umar ordered that she be given 12 strokes of the cane, get two years imprisonment, or pay a fine of N50,000 on April 11.
Wao oooo. Seriously?
ReplyDeletePost a Comment