Justice Muhammad Abubakar Sambo of Bauchi High Court has sentenced a 27-year old man, Salisu Ali, of Zango village in Tafawa Balewa Local Government of the state, to death by hanging for committing culpable homicide. The prosecution counsel, Sabiu Adamu Gumba, had told the court that the accused lured his seven-year old brother, Yusuf Ali, to the bush where he hit him with a stick, killing him instantly.
Mr. Gumba said the accused later cut off the joystick of the deceased and gave it to his dog. In a confessional statement, the accused confirmed that he killed Yusuf due to the misunderstanding between him and the mother of the deceased. According to him, he did not take any intoxicant while committing the offence and the deceased did not engage him in a fight during the incident as he fell and died instantly.
The prosecution counsel presented his first witness, Aliyu Shehu, who is father to both the accused and the deceased. He told the court that the deceased was sent to the market by his mother on the day he was killed to buy detergent only for him to be lured by the accused into the bush.
He said a good Samaritan informed him that he saw the accused with the deceased on their way to the bush. The witness said some youth in the village later forced the accused into the bush where he showed them the body of the murdered boy. In his judgment, Justice Abubakar Sambo ordered that the accused be hanged on the neck until he was certified dead.
