A Jos High Court on Wednesday sentenced a 23-year-old man, Harisu Abdullahi, to death by hanging for killing Abubakar Danlami, a rival in a contest for a woman’s love.
Justice Sirajo Mohammed sentenced Abdullahi while delivering judgment on the matter, brought before the court since 2010.
He said “Harisu Abdullahi should be hanged by the neck until he is certified dead for causing the death of
one Abubakar Danlami.
Mohammed declared that the prosecution had convinced the court beyond any reasonable doubts that the accused committed the offence.
“The prosecution did an excellent job that convinced the court that the convict committed culpable homicide. It presented many witnesses who testified and also brought concrete evidences that proved the accused guilty of the offence for which he was being charged.
“The confessional statement of the accused also assisted the court.”
Mohammed pointed out that the accused person did not challenge the admissibility of the confessional statement either on the ground of authorship or voluntariness.
“The accused, after commiting the offence, ran away from Jos to Gombe and this is a further proof of guilt,” the judge declared.
The court had heard, through the Plateau Director of Public Prosecution, Mr J.T.Manomi, that the accused committed the offence on April 14, 2010 at about 7 p.m. Manomi told the court that Abdullahi stabbed his victim on the left side of the chest with a sharp knife which led to his death.
“The accused committed the offence following a disagreement with his rival over a female friend at Rikkos Area of jos.
“Abdullahi, after committing the offence, ran away to Gombe so as to escape police prosecution.
“My lord, the police arrested his father and this made his relations in Gombe to hand him over to police for prosecution.
“The accused is indeed guilty because the girl in question has informed the father of the deceased that the accused was the one that stabbed his son while they were together,“ the prosecutor told the court.
The prosecutor presented two witnesses before the court in addition to a confessional statement by the accused and a hospital medical report as evidences.
He said the offence contravened the provisions of Section 221 of the Penal Code.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the course of the trial, the accused pleaded not guilty, while his counsel, Mr S.S Mshelia, insisted that the said confessional statement was obtained under duress.
He argued that the evidence of the deceased’s father could not stand the test of time, as there was no evidence that directly linked his client with the death of the deceased. (NAN)
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