By Sule Lazarus
Senior Correspondent, Yola.

Another case of public interest that suffered set back is that of the 17 Igbo leaders detained by the police over Eze Ndigbo tussle and were granted bail by an Adamawa Magistrate court last week.

Followers of the case against the Maitatsine Kingpin that started last year, twenty years after the riots, were disappointed upon hearing that the judgment would not take place owing to the strike action.

The case has generated a lot of interest since it started last year at the state High Court presided over by the state Chief Judge, Justice Bemari Bansi because of the enormity of human and material destruction caused by the Maitatsine religious Mayhem 21 years ago.

Maikaniki fled the country at the peak of the blood - letting riot and had remained in exile until 2003 when he was arrested and brought to Nigeria to face trial.

He was detained at the Force Headquarters in Abuja before he was brought to Yola where the offence was committed.

The police in Yola detained him for a while before he was charged to court and has been remanded in prison custody since then.

During the last appearance, the counsel to the accused and the Director of Public Prosecution of the state made their final submission before the Court fixed this week for judgment.

Our correspondent who was at the Court premises, Wednesday noticed that the entire state High Court premises was a ghost of itself except for the few vehicles parked outside the gate.