The Court of Appeal sitting in Kano on Monday issued an order to the Nigerian Correctional Service to produce Sheikh Abduljabar Kabara before the court for the hearing of his appeal.
The Islamic scholar is in custody following a judgment by a lower court, an Upper Shari’a Court, which sentenced him to death by hanging for alleged blasphemy.
When the matter came up for hearing on Monday, the presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Lawal-Shuaibu, ordered that since the appellant filed the appeal personally and not through counsel, he should be produced to appear before the court and argue his case.
The two other judges who sat alongside Justice Lawal-Shuaibu are Justice Abubakar Muazu-Lamido and Justice Ahmad Ramat-Mohammed.
“In view that the appellant filed the appeal in person and not through counsel, he is to appear personally.
“Also, in view of the fact that the appellant is in custody, it is hereby ordered that the Correctional Service produce him on the next adjourned date, April 23, 2026, for the purpose of prosecuting his appeal.
“The matter is adjourned to April 23, 2026, for hearing at the instance of the defence counsel,” he said.
Earlier, when the case was called, both parties were absent and had no representation.
At this point, a man who identified himself as Usman Malam-Hussaini stood up to inform the court that the Islamic scholar had sent him with a letter requesting his transfer to Kano from Kuje Prison in order to have unrestricted access to his records.
The presiding judge, however, summoned the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Abdulkarim Kabiru-Maude (SAN), to appear before the court and stood the matter down.
Later, when the matter was recalled, the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions in the Kano State Ministry of Justice, Barr. Zahradeen Kofar-Mata, told the court that the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice was indisposed and had called him to tender an apology for his inability to appear in person.
Kofar-Mata said the matter was assigned to a private lawyer and attributed the hiccup to a mix-up at the registry.
The presiding judge, however, cautioned the attorney general over what he described as disrespect to the court for failing to appear and subsequently adjourned the matter.
