A Kaduna High Court on Thursday fixed Oct 4 to rule on the bail application of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife Zinat.
The presiding judge, Justice Gideon Kurada, adjourned the matter after counsel to the defendants Mr Maxwell Kyon, moved the application for the bail of the first and second defendants.
Kyon told reporters the prosecution counsel had served the 3rd and 4th defendants, Yakubu Yahaya and Sanusi Abdulqadir, respectively, standing trial with the Shiites leader.
Kyon said the Defense Counsel had filed their bail application to the court and the prosecution had also filed their response.
He said that October 4, had been fixed for ruling of the bail application.
READ: Pope Francis changes teaching on death penalty
Meanwhile, the Prosecution Counsel, Chris Umar, confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after the court session that the 3rd and 4th respondents had been served through publications in the Daily Trust and The Nation newspapers.
NAN reports that the Kaduna State Government had brought an eight-count charge against the IMN leader, his wife and the two other IMN leaders based in Katsina and Kano.
The IMN leader, his wife, Yahaya and Abdulqadir were charged for alleged conspiracy, abating culpable homicide among other related offences.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")
