{"id":169187,"date":"2025-07-11T20:33:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T19:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/amnesty-demands-withdrawal-of-arrest-warrant-in-sokoto"},"modified":"2025-07-11T21:37:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T20:37:25","slug":"amnesty-demands-withdrawal-of-arrest-warrant-in-sokoto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/amnesty-demands-withdrawal-of-arrest-warrant-in-sokoto","title":{"rendered":"Amnesty Demands Withdrawal of Arrest Warrant in Sokoto"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Amnesty International Nigeria has raised strong concerns over an arrest warrant issued against Hamdiyya Sidi Sharif, a vocal critic of Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu, describing the move as a clear violation of her right to a fair hearing.<\/p>\n<p>The warrant was issued on July 10 by a magistrate court sitting in Gwiwa, under Wurno Local Government Area, after Hamdiyya failed to appear in court the previous day.<\/p>\n<p>Amnesty International insists the absence was due to her ongoing medical treatment,which was a direct result of the trauma she suffered following a violent abduction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe warrant of arrest&#8230; is contrary to all tenets of fair hearing and justice,\u201d the human rights organization said in a statement posted on its official X handle.<\/p>\n<p>The group called for the immediate withdrawal of the warrant, especially as a motion for trial in absentia had already been filed by her legal team on June 19.<\/p>\n<p>Hamdiyya is currently facing criminal charges brought by the Sokoto State Government, including \u201cuse of insulting or abusive language\u201d and \u201cinciting disturbance\u201d*.<\/p>\n<p>These offenses are tied to her alleged public criticism of Governor Ahmed Aliyu\u2019s response to worsening insecurity in the eastern parts of the state.<\/p>\n<p>The case has drawn widespread attention, especially after it emerged that Hamdiyya has been kidnapped twice since the trial began.<\/p>\n<p>In the most recent incident on May 20, her family and lawyers reported her missing after she left home to buy food items.<\/p>\n<p>She was later found abandoned in a forest in Zamfara State, bearing signs of severe physical abuse.<\/p>\n<p>An earlier abduction took place on November 13, 2024, when she was reportedly seized by armed men while retrieving her mobile phone from a charging point.<\/p>\n<p>Eyewitnesses said she was beaten, pushed out of a moving tricycle, and left on the roadside with serious injuries.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these documented threats to her life, critics say the state government has continued to pursue charges against her while failing to hold her attackers accountable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of trying to suppress dissenting voices through the abuse of power,\u201d Amnesty International stated, \u201cSokoto State Government and Nigerian security agencies should prioritise urgently addressing rampant insecurity&#8230; where gunmen have been killing people, razing villages, [and] abducting women and girls \u2014 almost daily,\u201d the statement concluded.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Amnesty International Nigeria has raised strong concerns over an arrest warrant issued against Hamdiyya Sidi Sharif, a vocal critic of Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu, describing the move as a clear violation of her right to a fair hearing. The warrant was issued on July 10 by a magistrate court sitting in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":169186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[69,254,165,462],"class_list":["post-169187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-court","tag-nigeria","tag-police","tag-sokoto"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Amnesty Demands Withdrawal of Arrest Warrant in Sokoto - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amnesty International Nigeria has raised strong concerns over an arrest warrant issued against Hamdiyya Sidi Sharif, a v ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/amnesty-demands-withdrawal-of-arrest-warrant-in-sokoto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amnesty Demands Withdrawal of Arrest Warrant in Sokoto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amnesty International Nigeria has raised strong concerns over an arrest warrant issued against Hamdiyya Sidi Sharif, a v ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/amnesty-demands-withdrawal-of-arrest-warrant-in-sokoto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-11T19:33:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-11T20:37:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/sm_1752253761.800335.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"735\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/amnesty-demands-withdrawal-of-arrest-warrant-in-sokoto#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/amnesty-demands-withdrawal-of-arrest-warrant-in-sokoto\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Amnesty Demands Withdrawal of Arrest Warrant in Sokoto\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-11T19:33:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-11T20:37:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/amnesty-demands-withdrawal-of-arrest-warrant-in-sokoto\"},\"wordCount\":390,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/amnesty-demands-withdrawal-of-arrest-warrant-in-sokoto#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/sm_1752253761.800335.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"court\",\"Nigeria\",\"Police\",\"Sokoto\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/amnesty-demands-withdrawal-of-arrest-warrant-in-sokoto#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/amnesty-demands-withdrawal-of-arrest-warrant-in-sokoto\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/amnesty-demands-withdrawal-of-arrest-warrant-in-sokoto\",\"name\":\"Amnesty Demands Withdrawal of Arrest Warrant in Sokoto - 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