Train Crushes Two Persons To Death In Kano

Two unidentified persons were crushed to death in Kano on Tuesday by a moving train.

It was not immediately clear what led the twosome to lay on the disused rail line that linked Bompai industrial zone.

Kano had, over the last few weeks, been under intense heat wave with many residents sleeping outside .

Already, the police in the city are working on several leads with the view of unraveling the mystery.

But DSP Abdullahi Haruna, Spokesman, Kano state Police Command in a statement made available to Journalists revealed that the incident occurred at about 8:00hrs

DSP Haruna said “we received a report that two yet to be identified persons, who were laying on the rail track, were crushed by a moving train behind Kano club.

He stated that “the Police’s visit showed that, one of the victims was cut into two parts, adding the bodies have been evacuated to the hospital.

”Consequently, a member of the gang, who at the time of sharing, was in the Uyo Prison on a different criminal matter, returned home to discover that he was short changed. He then gave details of the plot and how it was carried out to the police, and later became the star witness for the State.

The 8th and only accused who escaped the capital punishment, Mrs Itohowo Akpakwa- a staff of the University of Uyo, was earlier granted bail. Samuel Ikpo Esq of counsel to Mrs Akpakwa had insisted that there was no reason his client should languish in prison when there is no direct evidence linking her to the commission of the alleged crime.

Her bail was secured when Ikpo successfully argued that in the absence of a prima facie evidence against his client, it became baseless and punitive to curtail her freedom. Inspite of persistent argument to the contrary by Eyo Asuquo Esq for state, insisting that Mrs Akpakwa is the ‘woman’ mentioned by other suspects, the court was not persuaded, and therefore had no grounds to deny her bail.

Reviewing arguments on both side, the court noted that evidence of most suspects was that the woman who attended their meeting at Aka before the kidnap operation was the one who identified the victim, and also supplied information about her residence and movement. It noted that 2 state witnesses (policemen) also confirmed to court that they heard from suspects that the 8th accused supplied information and also Identified the victim.

Justice (Mrs) Joy Unwana echoed the position of Samuel Ikpo who pointed out that hearsay evidence by state state witnesses must not only be discountenance, but that of other suspects who did not mention the name of his client.

Furthermore, the court was convinced by his position that in the failure of police to conduct Identification Parade to give other suspects the opportunity to identify the ‘woman’ they allegedly saw, his client cannot be declared as the  ‘woman’ in question.

The court was of the view that there was no grounds to convict Mrs Akpakwa, and accordingly discharged and acquited her. On the other hand, convinced that the state has successfully proven beyond reasonable doubt, the 3 count charges, the other 7 were convicted.