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Tag: David Adudu

  • Man to die by hanging for killing stepmother

    A Plateau State High Court sitting in Jos on Thursday sentenced a 24-year-old man, Binfa Lamde, to death by hanging for killing his stepmother.

    Justice A. I  Ashoms, who handed down the judgment, declared that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Lamde killed the woman.

    “Going by the facts before this court, you, Binfa Lamde, mercilessly took the life of your stepmother, Mrs. Kum Zwade, in cold blood.

    “This sentence is mandatory; the law states that any person convicted of murder shall be punished with death by hanging.

    “The sentence of this court upon you is that you will be hanged until you are dead,’’ Ashoms declared.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convict was first arraigned on July 14, 2014, charged with culpable homicide, contrary to section 221 of the Penal Code, and punishable with death upon conviction.

    Lamde was said to have committed the crime on April 10, 2014, when he used a machete to hack his stepmother to death.

    Read Also: Court remands pupil for allegedly killing schoolmate

    Lamde, a resident of Ngwak village, Langtang North, in his confessional statement to the Police, said that he was at home on the said date when he heard his step sister, one Chakwai Zamde, screaming in her room.

    “I ran to her and she told me she was not feeling fine. We took her to the hospital, but after several checks, we were told that nothing was medically wrong with her.

    “We later took her to a native doctor, but her health condition kept deteriorating. My stepmother later confessed that she had `tied’ the sick girl through witchcraft.

    “We asked her to `untie’ the girl, but she refused. My son was equally sick at that time and I felt she was also responsible. So, when my step sister died, I got very angry.

    “I went into her (late stepmother)’s room, while she was sleeping, and used a machete to stab her all over her head and she died instantly,’’ the Police quoted Lamde as saying in the statement.

    Counsel to the convict, Mr David Adudu, while speaking with newsmen after the judgment, said that the capital punishment handed down on the convict was right as he was found guilty of the crime.

    Adudu, however, said that he would study the judgement and appeal the death penalty.

  • Man docked over rape of 9-year-old girl

    Man docked over rape of 9-year-old girl

    A 50-year-old man, Abdullahi Yusuf, on Wednesday appeared before a Jos Upper Area Court, sitting at Kasuwan Nama, charged with allegedly raping a 9-year-old girl.

    The accused, a resident of Lasisi Street, Laranto, Jos first appeared on May 6, specifically accused of rape.

    The police prosecutor, Mr E. A. Inegbenoise, during the arraignment, told the court that the victims’ father reported the matter at the Laranto police station, on March 17.

    Inegbenoise alleged that the accused person lured the minor into his room and had carnal knowledge of her.

    “The cat was let out of the bag when the victim could not walk properly for days and, upon interrogation, told her mother that the accused raped her and showed bruises she sustained in the process,” he stated.

    Inegbenoise alleged that the accused, in a confessional statement, owned up to the crime, but claimed that he did not penetrate her.

    “The accused claimed that he only `viciously fingered’ her,” the prosecutor alleged.

    During the arraignment, however, the accused denied the allegation and was granted bail by the judge, Mr Mustapha Yahaya, after his Counsel, Mr David Adudu, prayed for it.

    Adudu, in his prayer, cited section 36(1) of the 1999 constitution which stated that an accused person was innocent until proved otherwise.

    He said that if the bail was granted, his client would not jump bail and would never interfere with police investigation.

    The prosecutor, however, objected to the bail, and expressed the fear that the accused person would jump bail.

    He explained that the offence was not bailable unless in special circumstances and in the interest of justice, and urged the court to reject the plea.

    The judge, after listening to both parties, admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N50,000 .

    He ordered the accused to produce one surety who must be a guardian of the accused or a ward head residing within the jurisdiction of the court.

    The matter was adjourned until July 21, for hearing.

  • Herdsmen in court for raping two sisters

    Herdsmen in court for raping two sisters

    Two herdsmen, Shuaibu Samaila, 21, and Bashiru Mohammed, 24, on Friday appeared before a Jos Upper Area Court, sitting at Kasuwan Nama, for allegedly raping two sisters, aged 17 and 21.

    The duo first appeared on May 18 and were specifically accused of criminal conspiracy and rape.

    The police prosecutor, Mr E. A. Inegbenoise, during the arraignment, told the court that the victims’ father, a resident of Dawul District in Jos South Local Government, reported the matter at the ‘K’ Vom Divisional Police Headquarters, on March 29.

    Inegbenoise alleged that the accused persons attacked the sisters in a bush, while on their way to their farm, and raped them.

    “The accused persons used ropes to tie the sisters on trees when they put up some resistance; they viciously fingered them and raped them thereafter,” he alleged.

    The prosecutor said that the sisters suffered severe bruises and blood loss in the process.

    “They (victims) later reported to their father, who promptly reported to the police,” he said.

    The prosecutor said that the accused persons, in a confessional statement, owned up to the crime.

    When the trial started on Friday, however, the duo denied the allegation and were granted bail by the judge, Mr Mustapha Yahaya, after their Counsel, Mr David Adudu, prayed for it.

    Adudu, in his prayer, cited section 36(1) of the 1999 constitution which stated that an accused person was innocent until proved otherwise.

    He said that if the bail was granted, his clients would not jump bail and would never interfere with police investigation.

    The prosecutor, however, objected to the bail, and expressed the fear that the accused persons would jump bail.

    He explained that the offence was not bailable unless in special circumstances and in the interest of justice.

    The judge, after listening to both parties, admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N100,000 each, in addition to producing one surety.

    He said that the sureties must be guardians of the accused or ward heads residing within the jurisdiction of the court.

    The matter was adjourned to July 21, for hearing.

  • Man docked for raping eight-year-old girl

    Man docked for raping eight-year-old girl

    A 57-year-old man, Aminu Ibrahim, was on Wednesday re-arraigned before a Jos Upper Area Court for allegedly raping an eight-year-old girl.

    Ibrahim of Goda Sagai community in the Jos North Local Government Area was charged with criminal intimidation and rape.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accused was previously arraigned on May 26 this year.

    The Police Prosecutor, Insp. E.A. Inegbenoise, of the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, had told court that the mother of the victim reported the matter at the Nasarawa Gwong Divisional Police Headquarters on April 26.

    Inegbeniose said that the accused lured the girl into his shop with 50 kobo and Viju milk drink and then raped her.

    He said that the mother of the child noticed that her daughter was walking with difficulty, which made the victim to tell her mother what had her happened.

    The prosecutor said that the victim told her mother that the accused said he would kill her if she told anyone.

    He said the girl, thereafter, led her parents to the shop of the accused and identified a bench he used during the raping.

    Inegbenoise said that during police investigation, the accused confessed to having committed the crime.

    NAN reports that the accused, who was previously on remand was granted bail in the sum of N200, 000 with a surety in like sum.

    This was after his counsel, Mr. David Adudu, prayed the court to grant his client bail.

    Adudu in his prayer, claimed that the accused was hypertensive and needed medical supervision.

    He assured that if the bail was granted, his client would neither jump bail nor interfere with police investigation.

    But the prosecutor prayed court to deny the bail application as there were qualified medical doctors in prisons, who could take care of inmates with health challenges.

    Inegbenoise also argued that owing to the nature of the crime, the offence was not bailable, unless special circumstances.

    The Judge, Mr. J.Yahaya, however, admitted the accused to bail in the sum of 200, 000 and a surety in like sum.

    Yahaya said that the surety must be a ward head, residing within the jurisdiction of the court.

    However, the case which was assigned for continuation of hearing could not hold as judges of the lower courts are currently on strike.

    The matter was adjourned to July 21 for continuation of hearing.

  • Police forced me to make murder confession – Suspect

    Police forced me to make murder confession – Suspect

    A suspect, Stephen Luka, who is standing trial for brutalising his ex-girlfriend and killing her sister, has told a Jos High Court that the police tortured him to obtain his confessional statement.

    Giving evidence in a trial-within-trial on Tuesday in Jos, Luka rebutted the charges and showed the court scars he sustained during the torture to obtain his statement.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Stephen Luka was arraigned before the court in October 2016 charged with murder, attempted murder, assault and sexual abuse.

    The defendant was alleged to have attacked two sisters Simi Dusu and Justina Dusu on July 27, 2016 at his home, in Sabon Gari, Tudun Wada, Jos, when they went to break the news that Justina was pregnant.

    According to report, Luka was not happy when Justina insisted on keeping the baby, lost his control and used a machete on both sisters, resulting in Simi’s death and Justina losing her left eye.

    The Divisional Crime Officer, Mr. Bolaji Ayenumuro of the “A” Divisional police headquarters on May 6, testified and told the court that the accused person in a statement confessed to the murder without any duress.

    Luka, led in evidence by his counsel, Mr. David Adudu, told the court that the statement was forcefully taken from him on Aug. 2 and Aug. 3 2016, respectively.

    “On Aug. 2, 2016 at about 8 p.m. I was in the cell, when one Sgt. Apollos came to take me out and led me into the crime office where I met other policemen.

    “They asked me if I committed the crime and I told them no. They immediately started to beat me but I still told them I did not do it, I was then taken back to my cell.

    “At 7 p.m. the next day they took me back to the crime office and this time around they put a chain on my legs and placed hand cuffs on one hand.

    “They started to torture me again, when I could no longer bear the pain, I told them I committed the crime, my statement was taken and was I forced to sign.”

    During cross examination by the prosecuting counsel, Mrs. Muleng Alex, the defendant said that it took the police three days to extract the statement from him.

    When asked to identify the signature and date written on his statement, Luka said “this is not the statement and I cannot recognise the signature on it.”

    The prosecutor prayed the court to allow the defendant to write a date on a piece of paper to ascertain whether the handwritings were the same.

    However, when he did the two writing turned out to be the same.

    The defense counsel, Mr. David Adudu, thereafter prayed the court to give him 21 days to file a final written address for the defence.

    The judge, Mrs. Nafisa Musa, after listening to his plea, adjourned the matter to July 24 to enable both parties file their final written addresses for the trial within trial.

  • Murder suspect confessed to girlfriend’s brutalization – Police

    A police officer, Mr. Ayenumuro Bolaji, has told a Jos High Court that  Stephen Luka, who is standing trial for brutalising his girlfriend and killing her sister, owned up to the crime without duress.

    Bolaji, the Divisional Crime Officer, ‘A’ Division Police Headquarters, Jos, stood as a witness in a trial within trial, to ascertain if the statement given by the accused was not taken under duress.

    “The statement was voluntary; there was no form of duress,” he told the court.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Luka was arraigned in October 2016, over alleged murder, attempted murder, assault and sexual abuse.

    Luka was alleged to have attacked two sisters – Simi Dose and Justina Dusu – on July 27, 2016 at his home in Sabon Gari, Tudun Wada, Jos, after they went to confront him over Justina (his girlfriend)’s pregnancy.

    The accused had insisted on an abortion and was angry that Justina insisted on keeping the pregnancy.

    He was said to have lost his cool and used a machete on both sisters, killing Simi instantly, while Justina survived but lost her eyes and other parts of her body.

    The crime officer, while giving his testimony, said that the accused was brought to him on Aug. 8, 2016 by one Sgt. Apollos, who was the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in the matter, with a confessional statement said to have been written by Luka.

    “The accused person was brought to me on Aug. 8, by Sgt. Apollos, with a confessional statement said to have been written by Luka, who was alleged to have brutalised his girlfriend and killed her sister over the former’s pregnancy.

    “I asked the IPO to read the statement to the accused and interpret it to him in Hausa before me, so that I will be sure that he understood what was contained in the statement.

    “The accused person confirmed that he understood what was read to him and affirmed that he voluntarily gave the confessional statement stating that he committed the crime.

    “The accused also confirmed to me that he was not given promises, intimidated or tortured, while writing his confessional statement.

    “Luka also told me that it was the feeling of guilt that made him own up to the crime in his statement,” he told the court.

    The officer said that he thereafter took the accused person to the Divisional Police Officer after signing the statement, and the same process was repeated with the accused reaffirming that he gave the statement voluntarily.

    Counsel to the defendant, Mr. David Adudu, prayed the court to adjourn the matter to another date for the defense of trial within trial.

    The judge, Mrs. Nafisa Musa, after listening to his plea, adjourned the matter to June 5.

     

  • Man pleads guilty to raping three minors

    A 52-year-old man, John Udensi, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to raping three minors, aged 10, 11 and 13.

    Udensi, a resident of Angwan-Boarder, Tudun Wada in Jos, is standing trial on a three-count charge of rape, before a Jos High Court.

    The trial judge, Justice Nafisa Musa, after listening to his plea, adjourned the matter to June 19, to enable the prosecution place all facts before the court, in view of the plea of guilt.

    Musa gave the adjournment after the counsel to the accused, Mr. David Adudu, prayed the court for an adjournment to enable the prosecution and defense review facts in view of the accused person’s plea of guilt.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accused person was first arraigned on Nov. 25, 2015, and was specifically accused of raping three minor girls.

    The prosecutor, C. R. Parlong, of the Plateau Ministry of Justice, had told the court that the accused person committed the crime at his home, on different dates in 2015.

    He alleged that Udensi lured the victims into his room to watch Television and raped them.

    Parlong told the court that the accused had informed the police, in a confessional statement, that he committed the crime on Oct. 9, Nov. 18 and Nov. 20, 2015 at his home in Tudun Wada.

    The prosecutor quoted the accused person as saying that the first and second victims entered his room while he was watching Television and started “touching” him.

    According to the statement, the accused person warned her to stop, but she refused.

    “The girl continued to touch me until we had sex with her while the second victim watched.

    “Not long after, the second girl also entered my room to watch Television but ended up having sex with me,” the accused stated, while admitting that the sex sessions were repeated several times thereafter.

    The prosecutor further quoted the accused as saying that he later lured another girl, aged 13, into his room and had sex with her but was unlucky as a crowd trooped into his house and beat him up before handing him over to the police.

    The prosecutor said that the offense contravened section 283 of the Penal Code, an offense punishable with life imprisonment upon conviction.

     

  • Two men in court over rape of minors  

     

    Two men accused of raping two minors appeared before a Jos Upper Area Court on Friday.

    The duo – Shuaibu Musa, 17, and Bashiru Mohammed, 19, who allegedly raped two minors aged 13 and 16, were charged with criminal conspiracy and rape.

    The police prosecutor, Mr E. A. Inegbenoise, told the court that Mr Bulus Badung of Dawul-Bob village in Vwang District in Jos South, reported the matter at the `A’ Divisional Police Headquarters, On March 29.

    Inegbenoise alleged that the accused persons, on the said date, accosted the victims at about 6 p.m. on their way home and dragged them into a nearby bush.

    He said that when the victims put up resistance, the accused persons tied them up with ropes and raped them.

    “During police investigation, the accused persons confessed to committing the crime,” he claimed.

    The prosecutor added that the offences contravened sections 97 and 283 of the Penal Code and could attract punishment of up to 21 years imprisonment, upon conviction.

    The accused persons, however, pleaded not guilty to the crime when the charges were read in court.

    Counsel to the accused, Mr David Adudu, in a written application, prayed the court to grant his clients bail, quoting section 36(5) of the 1999 constitution that presumed an accused person innocent until otherwise proven.

    Adudu said that if the bail was granted, his clients would neither jump bail nor interfere with police investigation.

    The judge, Mr Mustapha Yahaya, admitted the accused persons to bail in the sum of N100,000 each, and two sureties each in like sum.

    Yahaya said that the sureties must reside within the jurisdiction of the court and must submit, to the court, two recent passport-sized photographs and their national identity cards.

    He adjourned hearing in the matter to May 18.

     

     

  • Motorcyclist jailed eight years over illegal possession of firearms

    A Federal High Court in Jos has sentenced a motorcyclist, James Adamu, to eight years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a foreign-made pistol and 13 rounds of live ammunition.

    Adamu, 32, a resident of Du, Jos South Local Government Area, was jailed on Wednesday, by Justice Dorcas Ajisi.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adamu, after pleading guilty to the crime, begged the court for leniency.

    NAN also quotes Adamu’s counsel, Mr. David Adudu, as praying the court to be lenient in its sentence, considering that the accused did not waste the time of the court.

    Ajisi, in her judgement, sentenced the convict to five years in prison for unlawful possession of firearm, and three years for being in possession of live ammunition.

    The judge, who did not give the convict an option of fine, said that both sentences would run concurrently.

    She added that the sentence was meant to serve as a deterrent to those who might want to engage in similar acts.

    The convict, who was first arraigned on Feb. 16, had immediately owned up to the crime.

    The police prosecutor, Mr. E.O Ochai, of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, had told the court that the accused person was arrested on Oct. 9, 2016 and when a search was conducted at his home, the firearm and live ammunition were found in his possession.

    Ochai said that the accused person had told the police in a confessional statement, that the firearm belonged to his business partner, one Mahmuda Hussaini, and that he was holding it as collateral for money he lent to him (Hussaini).

    In the statement, the accused said that sometime in September 2016, he agave Hussaini N80,000 to buy two cows for him, but that Hussaini did not deliver on his promise.

    Ochai further quoted the accused as saying that all efforts to recover his money from Hussaini yielded no results, which made the accused to collect the collateral from him.

    The accused, in the statement, said that Hussaini invited him to Mista Ali, Jos, to collect the collateral and when he arrived Mista Ali, he was handed something in a bag and told not to open it, until he arrived home.

    Adamu, according to the statement, opened the bag at home and discovered a foreign made pistol and live ammunition in the sack, but that out of fear, he did not report to the police, nor return the items to Hussaini.

    The statement further indicated that on Oct. 8, the accused person invited a lady to his house, but when she refused to sleep with him, he threatened her with the gun and raped her.

    The prosecutor said that the rape victim thereafter reported the matter to the police station and a search was conducted in the accused home and the firearms recovered.

    Ochai said that the offense contravened the provision of Section 27 (1) of the Firearms Act, CAP F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    He further stated that the said Hussaini had been arrested and was standing trial for illegal dealings in arms and live ammunition.