A Kano State High Court has sentenced two men, Aliyu Hussaini and Amir Zakariyya, to death by hanging for the murder of a university lecturer, Buhari Imam, of Northwest University, Kano.
Delivering judgment, Justice Fatima Adamu found the defendants guilty on a three-count charge of conspiracy, armed robbery, and culpable homicide.
“The prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt,” the judge ruled, adding that the convicts’ actions demonstrated “total disregard for human life.”
Justice Adamu sentenced each of the defendants to five years’ imprisonment for conspiracy, 10 years for armed robbery without an option of fine, and death by hanging for culpable homicide.
“May God have mercy on them,” she said.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Lamido Sorondinki, told the court that the convicts, armed with knives and machetes, conspired to rob and kill Imam at his residence in Sheka Sabuwar Abuja Quarters, Kano, around 3:30 a.m. on June 11.
Sorondinki said the victim was stabbed multiple times in the stomach, thigh, and back, and his mobile phone was stolen.
The prosecution presented three witnesses and tendered medical reports and photographs of the deceased as evidence.
The convicts denied the charges but were found guilty of violating Sections 97(1), 298(c), and 221(a) of the Penal Code Laws of Kano State.
Defence counsel Haruna Zakariyya pleaded for leniency, but the court held that the severity of the crime warranted the maximum penalty.