A High Court in Kebbi is set to investigate, using an administrative panel, the allegations of misconduct leveled against two Chief Magistrates in the state.
A Chief Magistrate, Umar Salihu-Kokami, reportedly slapped a legal practitioner and two other persons.
The other magistrate, Mustapha Umar-Maccido, was accused of absconding from duty.
The Chief Registrar of the Kebbi High Court, Hussaini Abdullahi-Zuru, in a statement released on Friday, revealed that Salihu-Kokami had been transferred to headquarters while Umar-Maccido has been placed on suspension.
The statement partly reads: “Chief Magistrate Mustapha Umar-Maccido was reasonably suspected of having absconded from his duty post, Chief Magistrates Court, Kalgo, since Sept. 2022, after the expiration of his two weeks casual leave.”
The statement further added that he was alleged to have engaged in private practice in other jurisdictions even when he is a serving Chief Magistrate.
The statement also noted that he has been placed on a suspension till a report of an Administrative Committee to look into the matter, reaffirming that Salihu-Kokani of Chief Magistrates’ Court III, Birnin Kebbi, has been recalled to the headquarters over judicial misconduct.