Before proceeding in this Judgment, I consider it very important to make a very fundamental observation as regards the law under which the Defendants were arraigned before this court. In the first place, charge No. 3 which relates to causing grievous hurt and which the prosecution says is punishable under Section 244(1) of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law No. 4 of 2019, does not corresponds with the name of the offence ascribed to the Section by the said Penal Code itself, as the name of the offence ascribed to Section 244 of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law No. 4 of 2019, is assault or Criminal force on woman with intent to outrage modesty and has no subsection (1) thereto. The Section of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law that punishes causing grievous hurt that befits the facts as contained in the said charge, is Section 223 of the said code and not Section 224 as indicated by the prosecution in the said charge No. 3. Secondly, in all the three (3) counts charges, 20th December, 2019 was mentioned consistently as the date when the alleged three (3) offences against the Defendants were said to have been committed, and since the Sokoto State Penal Code Law No. 4 of 2019 was not in force as at 20th December, 2018, the Defendants cannot be charged under it as the said Sokoto State Penal Code Law No. 4 of 2019 has no retrospective effect. It is a settled principle of law that the law applicable to a cause of action, is the law in force at the time the cause of action arose and not the law existing at the time the jurisdiction of the court is invoked – Per Kekere-Ekun JSC. - Zubairu V. Kolawole (2019) 3 WRN 51 at 68 lines 10-15. - Adah V. NYSC (2004) 34 WRN 1 Page 6 of 27