The Battered, the Brutes, and the Rogue

By Suleiman Hassan Gimba Esq

If only you could read with your eyes closed, then this writeup would take you through a story that is better seen than read. You would have seen yourself stepping into a courtroom for the first time – all that reverence, all that grace, and all that tradition you have come to hear of the sacred temple of justice turning out to be true.
The Magistrate’s elevated bench, adorned with a crest of Lady Justitia, with her blindfold on, holding a scale on the one hand and a sword on the other hand. Even as you wonder who she is and what she does; even before you could decipher that she symbolizes impartiality; even before you could decode that she denotes fairness; and even before you could tell that she represents the rule of law – you felt that this is where the common man comes to get justice!
Your thoughts were disrupted by a banging sound and a voice ordering all to stand. As the sound of people standing reverberates with gravity in the space accentuated by high, vaulted ceilings – the Magistrate entered, accompanied by her Police Orderly. The aura of authority she oozes, and the unspoken rules of court that everyone present obeys serve as a reminder that here, truth and justice reign supreme.
As if the Magistrate had read your thoughts, she committed two policemen to a correctional facility for contempt. Their offence was shown to you in the way movies do, with a flashback to March 2024 where one Abubakar Umar Mainta was touted for being a paramilitary by two police officers then beaten. His brand-new phone was damaged, you could see as his tears turned into blood and his loud screams turn into silent sobs and later a lack of consciousness.
You watched as a sad soundtrack plays in the background as he was rushed into the hospital where he would earn his title in this article, the “battered”. He spent the next two days in a hospital, wondering if he would ever get on his feet again.
Then we have the brutes, I could have shown you this story from their point of view, but I don’t want to corrupt your innocent mind. They are Abdullahi Aji Bulama and Mr Kabir (A.T.O) of the Potiskum Area Command of the Nigerian Police Force. They believe other security agencies and the judiciary are inferior to them and cannot hold them to account. This is why since March they refused to appear before the Nigerian Security and Civil Défense Corps and also ignored all hearing notices from the court.
When the Court got tired of their shenanigans, an order was given to the Commissioner of Police to produce them. They showed up to court on 29th October, but they had other plans, didn’t they? Asked why they didn’t show up to court, they gave answers that even a two-year-old wouldn’t agree with. They got what was coming to them in the form of a two-week sentencing to a correctional facility for contempt of court.
You wanted to jump in joy, you wanted to shout that everything is right with Nigeria because deep down, more than anything you want this country to work for everyone. You want people to know that there are consequences for their actions. You want to know that the blindfold Lady Justitia wears will remain on no matter the strength of the person in the accused dock.
This dream was shattered by the actions of a meddlesome interloper in the citadel of law. He is none other than the Area Commandant of the Potiskum Area Command, Yobe State. Normally in movies, when a cop is at the nadir and he goes rogue, he is about to be the hero. But with Mohammed Musa Zayyanu, his story only makes for a great villain arc. His boys were accused of Police brutality, so he went to court, fully armed to harass and intimidate the judiciary and show them that he is really brutal, and his boys are “brutaller” at his behest.
If you would snap back to reality, you’d know that this is not just a story, this is reality and Mr Zayyanu and his boys are still free and in position of authority. The Commissioner of Police in Yobe is silent, could it be that he gave his approval for the desecration of the court? Or that he simply has no control over the Yobe State Division. He has been aware of the incident for more than a week and has done nothing, shattering every belief you have left of the judiciary being allowed to be the last hope of the common man.