Aminu Yar’Adua, son of late president of Nigeria, Umaru Yar’Adua, who was recently detained in Yola Correctional Centre on the orders of a Magistrate Court has reportedly been released from prison under questionable circumstances.
A Magistrate’s Court in Yola had earlier remanded Aminu Yar’Adua, 36, in prison for allegedly killing four people in an auto crash due to reckless driving in Yola.
Yar’Adua, a student of the American University of Nigeria, AUN, Yola, was charged to court for allegedly causing the death of four persons through dangerous driving on June 23, 2021.
According to the police First Information Report, FIR, tendered in court by the prosecutor, Inspector Zakka Musa, the accused had, while driving along Yola by-pass on June 23, 2021, crushed four people who were returning from a wedding ceremony as a result of over speeding. The court heard that four of the victims from Sabon Pegi, Yola South Local Government Area were killed instantly while two others were injured in the accident.
Those who died in the accident were identified as Aisha Umar, 30, Aisha Mamadu, 32, Suleiman Abubakar, 32, and Jummai Abubakar, 30, while, Rejoice Annu, 28, and Hajara Aliyu, 27, sustained injuries. The prosecuting officer told the court that the relatives of the late Aisha Umar, Suleiman Abubakar, and Jummai Abubakar had demanded the sum of N15 million from the defendant as compensation.
But, when the FIR was read to the defendant, he denied committing the offence, describing the allegation as untrue. At that point, the prosecutor pleaded with the court to adjourn the matter, to enable him to forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice. The Magistrate, Jummai Ibrahim, granted the prosecution’s request and adjourned the matter to August 19, 2021 for further mention, and ordered that the ex-president’s son be remanded in prison custody.
It was, however, gathered that Yar’Adua was subsequently released after a touted settlement between his family and the families of the four victims. A close relative of one of the victims, told Arewa Voice that they were taken to the magistrate and told to hand over the matter to God since their loved ones had already died in the accident.
“We were taken to the premises of the court where we were asked to leave the matter to God. And since then we obliged and left the matter,” the family member said amidst tears.
On whether the family got any form of compensation since they had purportedly sought out-of-court settlement, the source said they had not been given a dime. But a source close to Aminu Yar’Adua insisted that a princely sum changed hands between the family and those of the victims.
“I can confidently tell you that there was a settlement between the Yar’Adua family and the families of the victims. We were even shocked that the relatives of the Christian victims said they had left the matter to God, while the families of the Muslim victims said they must be compensated. Yar’Adua has been released since after the out-of-court settlement and he has already left for Katsina to spend his break.” A senior staff of the Magistrate’s court said he was aware of the out-of-court settlement but said: “I don’t know the terms of the settlement.”
