25th January, 2024
By Ramatu Garba
Five members of a vigilante group were sentenced to death in Kano on Thursday for beating and stabbing a 17-year -old teenager, Ahmed Musa to death.
The Chief Judge of Kano State, Justice Dije Abdu-Aboki sentenced the five vigilante group members to death by hanging after ruling that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The convicts: Korau Sani, Elisha Ayuba, Irimiya Timothy, Auwalu Jafar and Mustafa Haladu, attached to the Sani Abacha Youth Centre, were convicted on a two-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide.
In the course of the trial, the Prosecution Counsel, Mr Lamido Sorondinki, told the court that the defendants committed the offence on Jan. 22, 2022, at Sabon Titi Panshekara, Kano.
Sorondinki said at about 10:00 a.m, the defendants conspired and attacked the deceased (Ahmed) while he was crossing Sabon Titi Panshekara Road.
“The defendants came out of a tricycle and started beating the deceased with a long wooden hard stick (Gora) and in the process, the deceased held the stick.
“In the process, the first defendant used a long sharp knife and stabbed the deceased on his neck and dragged him on the ground and put him in the said tricycle and took him away.
“As a result, the deceased sustained grievous injuries and a swollen face,” the prosecution counsel said.
He said the victim was later taken to Kutau Police Division and was rushed to the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Kano, where he was confirmed dead by a doctor.
The Prosecution presented five witnesses to the court to prove its case.
The defendants, however, denied committing the offence.
According to the prosecutor, the offence contravenes the provision of Section 97 and 221(b) of the Penal Code.
The defence counsel, Mr Ahmad Muhammad, presented six witnesses including the defendants.
In their testimony, the defendants claimed that they approached the deceased intending to arrest him because of some complaint lodged against him but he resisted.
While delivering judgment, Justice Dije Abdu-Aboki said, “I hereby sentence the defendants to two years imprisonment for conspiracy, and to death by hanging, for homicide.”