A Kano State High Court has sentenced a 37-year-old man, Tahir Tanimu, to death by hanging for fatally stabbing his friend, Shamsu Yakubu, during a politically motivated attack in Kano.
The court, presided over by Justice Aisha Mahmoud, found Tanimu guilty of culpable homicide after ruling that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Tanimu was arraigned alongside Martins Joseph on a three-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy, abetment and culpable homicide.
Delivering judgment on Monday, Justice Mahmoud sentenced Tanimu to death by hanging.
The judge, however, declined to impose the same sentence on Joseph, noting that he was 15 years old at the time the offence was committed.
She ruled that Joseph’s fate should remain at the discretion of the Kano State Governor in line with the law governing juvenile offenders.
“I hereby sentence Tahir Tanimu to death by hanging for culpable homicide,” the judge declared.
“Since the second defendant, Martins Joseph, was 15 years old when he committed the offence, I leave his fate at the governor’s pleasure because he was below 18 years at the time.”
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Lamido Abba-Sorondinki, told the court that the incident occurred on March 1, 2019, at Unguwa Uku Quarters in Kano.
According to him, one Aminu Malan, who is still at large, allegedly mobilised Tanimu, Joseph and seven other suspects, also at large, to attack the deceased at his residence following a disagreement over politics.
The prosecutor said the attackers stabbed Yakubu in the chest with a sharp knife during the assault, leading to his death.
Abba-Sorondinki said the prosecution called four witnesses and tendered evidence linking the defendants to the crime.
He added that the offences contravened Sections 97, 85 and 221 of the Penal Code.
The defendants had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Counsel for the defence, Sani Idris, urged the court to temper justice with mercy, but the plea was rejected following the court’s finding that the prosecution had established the case beyond reasonable doubt.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that efforts to apprehend Aminu Malan and the seven other suspects allegedly involved in the attack are ongoing.
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