A high Court in Birnin Kebbi, yesterday, sentenced a woman, Farida Abubakar, to death by hanging for killing her former husband, Chief Magistrate Attahiru Muhammad-Ibrahim.
Abubakar was arraigned before the court for murder on August 25, 2022, while the main charge was filed on July 26, 2023. The prosecution said the convict stabbed Muhammad-Ibrahim with a sharp object on his abdomen, neck, and left arm, causing his death.
Delivering judgment, the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Umar Abubakar, held that the court was convinced that the accused person committed the offence based on evidence adduced by the prosecution.
“The defendant was last seen with the deceased in his house in Birnin Kebbi. Shortly after, he was found dead. Circumstantial evidence linked the defendant to the offence. The burden of proof is on the prosecution to establish guilt against the accused person beyond reasonable doubt within the boundary of evidence adduced.
“With the extra judicial statement of the accused person and the testimony of 12 prosecution witnesses, the court is overwhelmingly convinced that the circumstantial evidence is an irresistible fact that she was the one who killed the deceased. The evidence adduced is cogent, compelling, and not controverted,” the court held.
The judge added: “Her hijab was found smeared with blood. It was her intention to kill him. She knew death would be the consequences of her action. The offence was committed at a time the deceased was about to marry a new wife.
“The court is satisfied. It is clearly established that the defendant mercilessly planned and marshalled the attack with a sharp object, obviously to cause death. The court has found you guilty of culpable homicide and bodily harm. The court has convicted you as charged.
“The court has sentenced you to death by hanging in accordance with Section 191(b), Penal Code law of Kebbi State. You are to be hanged by the neck until you are dead. The court has also sentenced you to seven years in prison for causing bodily harm in accordance with Section 224 (1), Penal code law of Kebbi State.”
In his allocutus, the defence counsel, Mudashiru Sani, holding brief for Abdulnasir Sallau, described the convict as a first time offender with aged parents. The counsel said the convict was her parents’ caregiver and also has a young daughter in need of motherly care.
He pleaded with the court to give the convict a lighter sentence, so that she could finish her term and come back to the society as a reformed individual, considering her age.
Responding, the prosecuting counsel, who is the Director, Public Prosecution (DPP) in the state’s Ministry of Justice, Lawal Hudu-Garba, enjoined the court to follow the letter of the law to serve as deterrent to others. Shortly after the judgment, the defence counsel, Sani, said his client would appeal the verdict.
