Court remands dismissed police officer over murder of teenager

An Abakaliki, Ebonyi State Magistrates’ Court on Friday remanded a dismissed police officer, Bassey Otu, in prison for allegedly killing a teenager, Ndubisi Nwanga.
Otu allegedly shot Nwanga in May during a squabble at the Abakaliki Market.
Otu has been dismissed by the Nigeria Police before he was charged to court.
The dismissed officer is standing trial on a one-count charge of unlawfully killing Nwanga and thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Cap 33 Vol. 1 of Ebonyi State of Nigeria, 2009.
The Defence Counsel, Ricard Utobo, applied for bail for the accused but the bail was rejected by the court.
The Magistrate, Ifeanyi Solange, ordered that the accused should be remanded in Abakaliki Prison as the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
“This case should be transferred to the High Court which has the jurisdiction to entertain such matter,” Solange said.