A High Court sitting in Gombe on Wednesday sentenced a 25-year-old man, Hassan Mohammed, to death by hanging for the murder of his former wife, Halimatu Sadiya-Adamu.
The convict, a resident of Falangaya village in Dukku Local Government Area of Gombe State, was found guilty of culpable homicide by Justice Abdulhamid Mohammed-Yakubu of High Court No. 2.
According to the prosecution, the incident occurred on March 25, 2025, at about 1 p.m., when Mohammed allegedly attacked the victim with a knife after she declined his request that they remarry.
The prosecution told the court that the attack resulted in a fatal injury that led to the woman’s death.
The Director of Public Prosecution in the state, Abubakar Kungudo, who led the prosecution team, informed the court that the offence contravened Section 221 of the Penal Code Law.
Kungudo said the prosecution called six witnesses during the trial, who gave eyewitness accounts of the events surrounding the incident.
He added that the knife allegedly used in carrying out the attack was presented before the court as an exhibit.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him.
During the proceedings, defence counsel, Habib Alkali, cross-examined the six prosecution witnesses before presenting the defendant as the sole witness for the defence.
While testifying, Mohammed denied responsibility for the crime but was subjected to cross-examination by the prosecution.
In his judgment, Justice Mohammed-Yakubu ruled that the prosecution had successfully established its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge stated that after evaluating the testimonies of the witnesses, the exhibits tendered before the court, the defendant’s confessional statement and the outcome of the police investigation, the court was satisfied that the accused committed the offence.
Consequently, the court convicted Mohammed for culpable homicide punishable under Section 221 of the Penal Code Law.
Justice Mohammed-Yakubu thereafter pronounced the sentence of death by hanging on the convict.
The court held that the evidence before it showed that the defendant killed his former wife after she rejected his request to remarry her.