A Kano State High Court on Monday sentenced two men to death by hanging for the murder of Buhari Imam, a lecturer at Northwest University, Kano, during a robbery in 2016.
Justice Fatima Adamu found the defendants, Aliyu Hussaini of Sheka Sabuwar Abuja Quarters and Amir Zakariyya of Unguwar Malam Quarters in Kumbotso Local Government Area, guilty on three counts of conspiracy, armed robbery, and culpable homicide.
“The action of the defendants shows total disregard for human life. I hereby sentence the defendants to five years’ imprisonment each for conspiracy, 10 years’ imprisonment each for robbery without an option of fine, and death by hanging for culpable homicide. May God have mercy on them,” the judge ruled.
Prosecution counsel Lamido Sorondinki told the court that the convicts committed the crimes on June 11, 2016, after conspiring and arming themselves with knives and machetes before attacking Imam at his home in Sheka Sabuwar Abuja Quarters.
He said the men robbed the victim of his phone and stabbed him several times in the stomach, thigh, and back, leading to his death.
The prosecution presented three witnesses, alongside medical reports and photographs of the deceased, to support its case.
Although the defendants denied the allegations, the court found them guilty after determining that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The offences violated Sections 97(1), 298(c), and 221(a) of the Penal Code Laws of Kano State.
Before sentencing, defence counsel Haruna Zakariyya pleaded for leniency on behalf of the convicts.
