Kano court orders arrest of customs officer for ‘ignoring summons’

The Kano state upper Shari’ah court has ordered the arrest of Yusuf Ismail Mai Biscuit, an officer of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), over his refusal to honour  summons.

Garba Malafa, presiding judge, gave the order following a prayer by Idris Saleh Bello, counsel to the applicant.

Abdullahi Aliyu, the applicant, had filed a suit alleging that Mai Biscuit threatened to eject him from his property at No. 1,136 C, Kawaji Layout, Nassarawa LGA, Kano state.

He further alleged that the customs officer marked the wall of his residence with red paint and directed him to vacate his property.

Aliyu said he obtained the property legally from the previous owner.

When the case came up on Thursday for mention, the applicant’s counsel, Bello, told the court that the defendant was neither in court nor represented.

He prayed the court to use its discretionary power, by issuing a bench warrant against the defendant pursuant to the provision of section 352 of ACJL 2019.

The lawyer argued that the bailiff of the court served the defendant with the court summons, notifying him to attend court on January 4.

“His failure to attend the court today without any reason is a contempt of court which is criminal in nature,” the lawyer said.

The bailiff also confirmed to the court that he served the defendant with the summon paper directly.

He brought out the document as a proof of service.

The judge ordered the police to arrest the defendant as prayed.

“Although the defendant was neither in court and not represented without any ground, the bailiff affirmed to the court that he served the summons on the defendant,” he held.

“This case is a direct complaint from the complainant’s counsel. It is therefore crucial for the defendant to attend the court.”

The court fixed January 8, for mention.