Man to die by hanging for stabbing another to death

A man, Hamza Mohammed, has been sentenced to die by hanging for stabbing another man to death during a free-for-all in Niger State.

Mohammed and one Baba Usman (now at large) were said to have chased after the deceased, Isah Mohammed until they caught up with him and stabbed him several times until he died.

The incident was said to have occurred in 2015 during a party when the free-for-all broke out between youths of the Kpakungu area of Minna and youths of Barikin Saleh, where Isah Mohammed was stabbed to death.

Mohammed was first arraigned in August 2015 by men of the Homicide division of the Niger State Police Command on a two-count charge of joint act and culpable homicide, an offence punishable under sections 79 and 221 of the penal code.

The convict, however, denied participating in the killing, arguing, “I and Baba Usman had  pursued the deceased, but Baba Usman was the person that stabbed him before I came there only to meet the deceased in a pool of his own blood.”

Mohammed, however, admitted that he and Baba Usman both pursued the deceased with the knife in an attempt to stab him,  saying  Baba Usman had already stabbed him before he reached the spot where the deceased was killed.

The Presiding High Court Judge and Niger State Chief Judge, Justice Halima Abdulmalik, in a two-hour judgment delivered on Friday, held that “the two-count charge of joint act and culpable homicide punishable under section 221 and section 79 of the penal code was established against the convict Hamza Mohammed and is hereby sentenced and convicted accordingly.”

The Judge further held that the prosecutor was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt the two-count charges of joint act and culpable homicide, punishable under sections 79 and 221 and punishable by death against Mohammed.

She ruled, “The case of culpable homicide  punishable by death is mandatory. You  Hamza Mohammed is hereby convicted and sentenced to death by hanging until you are dead. May the Lord have mercy on your soul.”