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Tag: Death sentence

  • Soldiers get death sentence, imprisonment for killing Islamic cleric

    Soldiers get death sentence, imprisonment for killing Islamic cleric

    In a landmark judgment delivered yesterday, Justice Usman Zannah of the High Court of Yobe State, sitting in Potiskum, ruled on the case involving Lance CPL John Gabriel and Lance CPL Adamu Gideon.

     The two soldiers were facing charges of armed robbery and murder of an Islamic cleric in Yobe State, Sheik Goni Aisami.

    Sheik Aisami was alleged to have been murdered sometime in August last year by the accused.

    Lance CPL Gabriel, the first accused, stood trial for the offence of armed robbery under Section 1 (2) and (b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provision Act) Cap R11 LFN 2004, and Section 221 of the Penal Code Law of Yobe State.

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     The second accused, Lance CPL Gideon, faced charges of attempted culpable homicide and assisting in the concealment of stolen property.

     During the trial, the prosecution presented a compelling case, calling 12 witnesses and submitting nine exhibits. In their defence, both accused testified, but opted not to call further evidence.

    After meticulous evaluation of the evidence presented before the court, Justice Zannah convicted Lance CPL Gabriel on two counts, sentencing him to death by hanging for both charges.

     On the other hand, Lance CPL Gideon was convicted on the first count and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He was, however, discharged on the second count.

  • Woman sentenced to death for killing neighbour during fight in Ajegunle

    An Ikeja high court on Tuesday sentenced a 36-year-old woman, Stella Gilbert, to death for stabbing her neighbour, Mrs Stella Godwin, to death during a fight at their residence in Ajegunle, Lagos.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fight was over a bench in the premises of their single room apartments also known as ‘face’me-I-face you’.

    The fight was caused by an argument over who should be using the bench belonging to their former neighbour.

    Justice Raliatu Adebiyi sentenced Gilbert after dismissing her claim of self defence.

    The judge held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

    “The defendant in this case used a knife on the deceased; by any standard, a knife is a lethal weapon.

    “The evidence of PW2 (Prosecution Witness 2),   the cousin of PW1 (the deceased’s husband), and that of PW3, the female police officer, was that the deceased was stabbed on the chest.

    “The coroner’s report tendered in evidence by PW4 confirmed that the deceased was stabbed on the chest.

    “The chest is where the heart is; the defendant, by stabbing the deceased on the chest, a very fragile part of the body, clearly intended to cause the most harm to her.

    “The death of the deceased occurred as a result of grievous injury caused by the defendant. The defendant is culpable of the offence of murder,” she said.

    The judge remarked that a lot of cases in courts were caused by animosity and violence due to individuals living in close proximity in the metropolis.

    She said that the situation called for improvement in social housing in Lagos State.

    She said: “From the evidence, the fight took place in a room; though no evidence was given about the size of the room, it could not have been a very large room.

    “The evidence was that the deceased and the defendant lived in a house consisting of rooms occupied by families popularly called ‘face-me-I-face-you’.

    “It is worrisome that the level of violence, unnecessary animosity and death, which occur among our citizens as a result of living together in close proximity without sufficient personal space and boundaries, remain unabated.

    “There is clearly a need to improve social housing and living conditions.

    “The court hopes that this message will be conveyed to the necessary authorities through prosecutors who have the responsibility to prosecute these cases and should be able to provide vital statistics,” she urged.

    Following the conviction of the Gilbert, her counsel, Mr Y. E. Yusuf, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy.

    “The defendant has been in detention for six years; during that time, she lost both parents and her brother. She is in her late 30s and unmarried, she has gone through a lot.

    READ ALSO: Three policemen, four others sentenced to death for kidnapping

    “She was not harbouring the intent to murder when the incident occurred.

    “I want my lord to temper justice with mercy and refrain from giving the defendant the maximum sentence,” Yusuf urged.

    However, the judge passed death sentence on Gilbert.

    “The defendant, Stella Gilbert, is hereby sentenced to death. May God that grants life have mercy on your soul,” she said.

    On hearing the sentence, Gilbert collapsed on the dock. Wailing loudly, she said, “Please ma, temper justice with mercy, why me oh, only me…”

    In her tears, she was led out of the courtroom and had to be carried by a mobile policeman and a prison warden out of the court complex to avoid disruption of proceedings in other courtrooms due to the commotion.

    NAN reports that during the trial, four witnesses – the husband of the deceased, the brother-in-law of the deceased, the investigating police officer and the coroner – testified for the prosecution.

    The defendant testified alone in her defence.

    According to the state counsel, Mrs O. R. Ahmed-Muili, the convict murdered Godwin, mother of three, on June 22, 2013, at No. 59, Ojora St., Ajegunle, Lagos.

    The convict stabbed the deceased on the chest and arm with a knife during a fight.

    NAN reports that murder contravenes Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos 2011 and is punishable with death by hanging.

    NAN

  • ‘Breast cancer not death sentence’

    Some women choose to die, rather than remove their breasts once they are diagnosed with breast cancer, but Abigail Simon-Hart chose to live after having undergone mastectomy with the use of mastectomy bras. In this interview with Omolara Akintoye, she reveals how she discovered the disease, her life after surgery and how she is now giving back to society

    MADAM we are sorry to inform you that you have breast cancer,” that was the shocking news from her doctor five years ago, according to Abigail Simon-Hart. Narrating her ordeal, she said, “My experience as a breast cancer survivor was through my mother, because my mother had breast cancer. So, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer I was well aware. I used to go for mammogram before I had it, so as a result of this we were able to detect breast cancer early enough.”

    According to Simon-Hart, cancer is a life changing diagnosis, but she’s grateful for detecting early enough. “As I speak, I’m bold to say I’m currently cancer-free. It boils down to the fact that cancer is not a death sentence. Nowadays as a result of the advance in medicine, cancer is fast becoming almost like a chronic disease such as high blood pressure and diabetes and malaria. You discover that in developed countries, people with 3rd-4th stage are living longer, as long as 20 years, because they are able to manage the disease.”

    Waiting until it has spread, she said, could be more dangerous and expensive to manage. It is just that at the later stage it is more expensive and more difficult to cure.

    She lamented that here in Nigeria, the lack of infrastructure, medical personnel that will detect the disease early enough, coupled with fact that people also die of ignorance, are responsible for the high mortality rate from the disease.

    “It was easier for me because I was aware of breast cancer. I knew my body very well, though it was a shock for me initially. I was quite upset, but I had to face the fact that I had cancer and I had to do the needful to stay alive.  I chose to have a double mastectomy and that decision saved my life.

    “Looking at me now you’ll never believe I had double mastectomy,” she said.

    Life after surgery

    “After the surgery, I went for various scans. They discovered that it was still early, that it had not left my breast, so it was easier to remove the two breasts and place me in hormonal treatment to clear any cancer cells that might still remain and ever since, I’ve been cancer free. It was a very difficult but important decision that I had to take, and for five years I’ve been cancer free. So I’m using the mastectomy bra now.”

    Essence of the bra: Once you remove your breast as a result of breast cancer, for some, it might be one breast while for others it might be the two, you need something there to fill up the space, to prevent stigma.

    “The message is that having your breast removed is not a death sentence, people worry a lot about dying, yet we’ll all die one day; but, for now, let us concentrate on living. Fight on and be strong. Now I’m an advocate in donating mastectomy bras to breast cancer patients,” she said.

    Managing breast cancer, she said, is very expensive but the key is early detection which is far cheaper than cure. It is expensive because people discover quite late. If it’s detected early, one might not need to do chemotherapy. I was only placed on hormonal treatment which was not quite expensive.

    Government, private investors and corporate organisations need to provide the necessary equipment, personnel, funds and the drugs as well as have an insurance scheme that provides for these people to be able to access it either free of charge or at subsidised rate.

  • Supreme Court upholds death sentence on 3 Bakassi Boys

    THE Supreme Court yesterday upheld the conviction and death sentence handed to three members of the notorious Bakassi Boys Vigilante group that once held sway in Abia State. A five-man panel of the court, led by Justice Dattijo Mohammed, made the pronouncement in three judgments delivered on three appeals filed individually by the Bakassi Boys’ members. The panel found, in the three judgments, that the three – Emmanuel Eze, Adiele Ndubuisi and Stanley Azuogu – actually committed murder and deserved the death sentence served on them by the trial court, which the lower court (Court of Appeal) upheld.

    The judgments were on the appeals marked: SC/487/2015 (by Emmanuel Eze), SC/488/2015 by Adiele Ndubuisi) and SC/489/2015 (by Stanley Azuogu). A member of the panel, Justice Amina Augie, in her lead judgment, in one of the appeals, said the line of defence by the appellant, anchored on the grounds of provocation, was untenable. The appellants had, among others, prayed the apex court to reduce their conviction for murder to manslaughter (which could attract lesser punishment) on the grounds that they were allegedly influenced by the state government. Justice Augie said such a request was not supported by the law. She described the Bakassi Boys’ conduct as bestial and lawless. She also described the Bakassi Boys as “nothing but outlaws.” She added: “They are lawless persons operating outside the law, who desecrate the laws of the land in their unlawful and misguided quest to dispense justice by killing alleged criminals.”

    She noted that, in the absence of anything said or done by the deceased in the presence of the Bakassi Boys, making the assailants “to suddenly and temporarily lose their passion or selfcontrol”, the defence anchored on provocation could not fly. Justice Augie said: “The appellant admitted that the Bakassi Vigilante Group to which he belonged was an unlawful association that dealt with alleged criminals with extreme measures which flagrantly breached the provisions of the law on fair hearing. “Having desecrated the laws of the land with such relish and reckless abandon, and being convicted for murder, the appellant is urging this court to allow the appeal, set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on May 5, 2010 and substitute his conviction on manslaughter, since he was incited by a third party. “There are a few things that were wrong with that line of defence. “First of all, it was more of implicating the Abia State government in the offence they have committed rather than a valid defence in law.’’

  • Obsession with death sentence

    Obsession with death sentence

    SENATOR Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi (APC-Niger) probably thinks his sponsorship of the hate speech bill is a demonstration of his patriotism and altruism. It is nothing of such. Hate speech is an indication of intolerance, a vice that sometimes draws strength from stereotyping. It can end in terrible destruction and scar a society for generations. Consequently, hate speech should be deprecated, and even legislated on, assuming existing legislations are neither wide-ranging enough nor offer sufficient deterrence. But to ask for the death penalty — the latest Nigerian obsession — for hate speech is both very facile and dangerous.

    Here is Sen Sabi-Abdullahi’s justification: “I looked at the rate at which people say things anyhow just to get at another person. Yes, somebody will tell you that there is law on defamation, but you may not even say a word to defame a character. What we are saying here is that today, the various divisions within our country, from religious to ethnic and other societal strata, try to differentiate themselves from others. Arising from what you represent, somebody may come out and be saying things that are very hurtful. There are things you say to somebody that hurts them deeply. It was hate speech that led to the genocide in Rwanda. The biggest challenge with hate speech is the fact that it is usually along two prominent lines. And Nigeria is so prominent with them: religion and ethnicity.”

    Apart from the weakness of his argument, the senator can of course not guarantee that the provisions of the bill would not be twisted to achieve predetermined ends, or be deployed against opponents and the opposition, or against anyone politically and hurtfully designated. More importantly, going by the provisions of that bill itself, it is too amorphous to lend itself to unambiguous definition and determination. Here is how the bill describes hate speech: “A person who uses, publishes, presents, produces, plays, provides, distributes and/or directs the performance of any material, written and/or visual, which is threatening, abusive or insulting or involves the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, commits an offence, if such person intends thereby to stir up ethnic hatred, or having regard to all the circumstances, ethnic hatred is likely to be stirred up against any person or person from such an ethnic group in Nigeria.”

    How for instance would Nigerians, going by the country’s cultural and religious divisions, have categorised Ms Isioma Daniel’s commentary in This Day newspaper on the 2002 Miss World pageant which was to be hosted by Nigeria, considering that it led to the death of more than 200 innocent people? Under the superfluous bill, it would have been considered hate speech. The Sen Sabi-Abdullahi bill is not only an overkill, it is a thoughtless and imprecise legislation incapable of addressing the problems it purports to fight. In any case, has the death penalty curbed armed robbery, kidnapping and murder?

  • Senate approves death sentence for kidnapping

    Senate approves death sentence for kidnapping

    THE Senate has approved death sentence for abduction, wrongful restraints or wrongful confinement for ransom.

    The upper chamber also approved 30 years jail term for anybody that colluded with an abductor.

    This followed the passage of a bill on abduction, wrongful restraints or wrongful confinement for ransom.

    The upper chamber, which did clause by clause consideration of the report by its committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, adopted the clause which specified death sentence for kidnapping.

    Senator Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu North) presented the report of the committee on behalf of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters Senator David Umaru.

    The Bill was sponsored by Senator Isa Hamma Misau (APC-Bauchi).

    Presenting the report, Utazi said the Bill sought to prescribe stiff punishment for the offence.

    He said the bill sought to combat and prevent any form of kidnapping in Nigeria by giving wider powers to the Inspector-General of Police to ensure adequate policing of the crime.

    Clause 1 (3) of the Bill stated: “Whoever is guilty of the offence and then results in the death of the victim shall be liable on conviction to be sentenced to death.”

    Clause 5 (2) of the bill revealed: “Anyone who fails to produce any book, account, receipts, vouchers or other documents, which is in his possession or control shall be guilty of an offence.”

    The person shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding N100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both fine and imprisonment.”

    Clause 3 provides a 30- year jail term to anyone who colludes with abductor to receive any ransom for the release of any person who has been wrongfully confined.

    The report was unanimously accepted by the lawmakers after a voice vote.

  • Armed Robbery: Court sentences 19-year-old to death

    Armed Robbery: Court sentences 19-year-old to death

    An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday sentenced a 19-year-old man, Adeolu Bamiteko, to death after he was found guilty of armed robbery.

    Bamiteko also bagged an imprisonment of 10 years for the offence of unlawful possession of firearms.

    Justice John Adeyeye held that the accused was guilty as charged having committed the offence contrary to Section 6(b) of Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act Cap R11 Laws of Federation of Nigeria 2004.

    Bamiteko was arrested and arraigned alongside a 12-year-old boy, Ayobami Ojo but the latter was discharged by the court having been an underage person in line with Section 30 of the Criminal Code.

    He was arraigned on three counts charge of conspiracy, robbery and unlawful possession of firearms.

    According to the charge sheet, the accused robbed one Adefunke Amire of her Nokia phone at a location near the Ewi’s Palace in Ado-Ekiti on 14th July, 2016 while armed with offensive weapons like a locally-made pistol with live cartridge and one knife.

    The accused was first arraigned in court on 16th February, 2017 and he pleaded not guilty to the charge. The prosecution called three witnesses to prove the case while the accused did not call any witness.

    During the pendency of the case, exhibits such as the accused’s statement volunteered to the police, items stolen from the victim, weapons found on the accused and a golden wristwatch which were tendered and admitted.

    Justice Adeyeye held: “The court hereby discharge the 1st defendant (Ojo) pursuant to Section 30 of the Criminal Code. But the 2nd defendant (Bamiteko) is found guilty of armed robbery and unlawful possession of firearm as contained in Counts One to three and he is accordingly convicted.

    “On Count Two, the sentence of armed robbery is mandatory in respect of which I have no discretion. Therefore, the 2nd defendant is sentenced to death by hanging until he be dead. May the Lord have mercy on your soul.

    “On Count Three, the 2nd defendant is sentenced to ten years imprisonment; both sentences are to run concurrently.”

  • Supreme Court affirms robber’s death sentence

    The Supreme Court has affirmed the death sentence passed on  Daniel Kekong for armed robbery.

    It okayed the Court of Appeal decision of October 28, 2014 affirming the appellant’s conviction and sentence by the Cross River State High Court.

    Prosecution counsel Ade Oyebanji said Kekong was among three men who attacked and robbed a recharge card dealer, Perpetua Ubua, of her handbag containing N128,000-worth of recharge cards, N285,000 cash and two mobile phones.

    Ubua testified that she was on her way home after the day’s business on a motorcycle, when her attackers, riding on another motorcycle, snatched her bag.

    She struggled with them but was overpowered, while the boys started shooting to scare people away.

    Kekong gave the recharge card to Promise Inyang to sell. Inyang in turn gave it to Elizabeth Obu to help him sell. Obu took the recharge cards to Ubua, asking her to pay whatever she wished for them, not knowing that the recharge cards were stolen from Ubua.

    Ubua reported the matter to the police, and the recharge cards were traced to Kekong. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to death for armed robbery, while his co-accused Inyang, was discharged.

    Kekong’s appeal against his conviction was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, Calabar Division, which upheld his death sentence.

    He further appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming a miscarriage of justice over the non-admission in evidence of a Police Investigation Report, which stated that Ubua could not identify those who stole her recharge cards.

    The Supreme Court held that the report lacked substance and did not meet the requirements of Section 232 of the Evidence Act 2011.

    It further held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

    “The evidence linked the appellant to the Glo recharge cards violently stolen from Ubua when she was robbed on 19th January 2013. The appellant had thus come to be in possession of stolen goods.

    “Thus, a proper foundation had been laid for the invocation of the presumption under Section 167 (a) of the Evidence Act 2011 to the effect that a man who is in possession of stolen goods soon after theft or robbery is either the robber or a receiver of stolen goods knowing them to have been stolen, unless he could give account of his possession.

    “There is no reasonable doubt about the guilt of the appellant for the offence of armed robbery charged. The trial court found him guilty; holding that his guilt was proved beyond reasonable doubt. The finding was affirmed by the court below.

    “No good cause has been shown why I should disturb the concurrent findings of the two lower courts. On the whole, there is no substance in this appeal, and it is accordingly dismissed in its entirety,” the Supreme Court held in the April 28 judgment delivered by Justice Ejembi Eko.

  • Man gets death sentence for killing father

    Man gets death sentence for killing father

    An Ekiti State High Court in Ado-Ekiti has sentenced a 47-year-old man, Blessing Olumakinde, to death for killing his father, Benson Egunlae, over inheritance.
    The Chief Judge, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, who gave the judgment, held that evidence showed the accused was guilty.
    He said the prosecution proved its case beyond doubt; hence the accused should be hanged.
    The deceased had six wives and 18 children, who quarrelled over sharing of his land.
    Dissatisfied with his share, Blessing reportedly killed his father with a cutlass and an axe at Odo village, via Ado-Ekiti, on March 21, 2007 and ran away.
    His siblings were shocked to meet their father in a pool of blood. Egunlae was taken to hospital, where he was confirmed dead.
    After committing the murder, the accused ran away for six months before surrendering to the police, after which he was arraigned on a one-count charge.
    The case, which started in 2009, suffered delays and adjournments, before it was taken over by the chief judge.
    The state was represented by the Attorney-General and Justice Commissioner Owoseni Ajayi. The accused was represented by Morakinyo Ogele.
    The prosecution called two witnesses, including a pathologist from the state Specialist Hospital, who conducted a post-mortem.
    Exhibits, including the axe and cutlass were tendered and admitted.
    The accused, in his confessional statement to the police, admitted killing his father in a hut on a farm.
    The accused did not call any witness.
    He was first arraigned on November 2, 2009.

  • Death sentence by hanging is unconstitutional, says Falana

    Death sentence by hanging is unconstitutional, says Falana

    Lawyer activist, Femi Falana (SAN) has said that it is illegal for government to execute the death penalty sentence in Lagos state.

    Lagos state Attorney General and Commissional for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem had on Wednesday  had said government is seriously working on signing death warrant, for the execution of the General-Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, Rev. Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, popularly called Reverend King and other condemned prisoners in the various prisons  in the state.

    Kazeem, at the flag off of the yearly ministerial press conference, said it has become necessary for the government to look at the issue considering that some convicts on death row are beginning to demand for certain rights, since they feel that no action will be taking against them.
    “This government is very strong on law and order. And the case is one of those that is under review. Like him, many others are on death row. And very soon, residents of Lagos will see the action of the government on it.

    But Falana, in a letter to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode dated April 19, 2017 contended that it is illegal and unconstitutional to execute such death sentence by hanging or firing  squad as it will lead to the violation of his fundamental right  to freedom from torture guaranteed by the Constitution.

    Presently in Nigeria, death sentences are usually executed by hanging as no prison has gas chamber or electric chair as it is in other countries.

    Although many persons have been convicted for armed robbery and murder and sentenced to death by the Lagos State High Court since 1999, he reminded the governor that his predecessors did not sign death warrants for the execution of any person on death row.

    Rather, he said all the convicts on death row had the death sentences imposed on them commuted to life imprisonment.

    The letter to Governor Ambode stated in part: “It is pertinent to draw the attention of Your Excellency to the case of Ajulu & Ors. V. Attorney-General of Lagos State (unreported) Suit No: ID/76M/2008 of 29th June 2012 wherein the Lagos State High Court held that while a person who commits murder may be sentenced to death it is illegal and unconstitutional to execute such death sentence by hanging or firing  squad as it will lead to the violation of his fundamental right  to freedom from torture guaranteed by the Constitution.

    According to the learned trial judge, Olokooba J: “…death by hanging and firing squad amounts to a violation of the condemned’s right to dignity of the human person and amount to inhuman and degrading treatment is consequently unconstitutional being violative of section 34(1)(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. Section 367 of the Criminal Procedure Law of Lagos State and any other Law which provides for hanging and condemned by the neck till he be dead are accordingly declared unconstitutional. Section 1(3) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act in so far as it seeks to be implemented by the Respondent it is also declared unconstitutional and void.”

    “On the basis of the valid and subsisting judgment of the Lagos High Court on the illegality of the execution of the death penalty in Lagos State we urge Your Excellency not to sign  a death warrant authorizing the killing of any condemned prisoner either by hanging, firing squad or any other means whatsoever’.

    He urged the governor, to in the circumstance; commute the death sentences of all condemned prisoners in Lagos State to life imprisonment forthwith.