A Kano State High Court on Monday sentenced two men to death by hanging for killing Buhari Imam, a lecturer with the Northwest University Kano, during a robbery in 2016.
Justice Fatima Adamu convicted the defendants, Aliyu Hussaini of Sheka Sabuwar Abuja Quarters and Amir Zakariyya of Unguwar Malam Quarters, Kumbotso Local Government Area, on three counts of conspiracy, armed robbery and culpable homicide.
“The action of the defendants shows total disregard for human life. Ihereby 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 earlier told the court that the duo committed the offences on June 11, 2016, when they conspired, armed themselves with knives and machetes, and attacked Imam at his residence in Sheka Sabuwar Abuja Quarters.
He said the accused robbed the victim of his mobile phone and fatally stabbed him in the stomach, thigh and back.
The prosecution presented three witnesses, along with medical reports and photographs of the deceased, to establish its case.
The defendants, however, denied the charges, but were found guilty after the court ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The offences contravene Sections 97(1), 298(c) and 221(a) of the Penal Code Laws of Kano State.
Defence counsel Haruna Zakariyya had earlier pleaded for leniency for the convicts before they were sentenced.
