An Upper Shari’a Court sitting in Kano has sentenced a 38-year-old man, Shafi’u Abubakar, to death by hanging for setting a mosque ablaze during early morning prayers, resulting in the deaths of 23 worshippers.
The court also sentenced the defendant to 150 strokes of the cane for related charges.
Delivering the verdict, Justice Halhalatu Khuza’i-Zakariyya said, “The burns on the defendant’s hand also indicate he committed the offence.
:’I hereby find the defendant guilty on all four counts,’: he said .
The judge noted that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence, including pictures of the victims, the defendant’s confessional statement, and eyewitness testimony.
The court accepted the testimonies of two witnesses, Pw4, Ibrahim Salisu, and Pw7, Abdullahi Sa’idu, a police officer. Justice Khuza’i-Zakariyya ruled, “Pw4 may not have seen the actual act, but his testimony that he saw the defendant fleeing the scene provides circumstantial evidence.
The confessional statement presented by Pw7 is further proof.”
The judge noted, “The defendant has 30 days to appeal the judgment.”
Defence Counsel Hasiya Muhammad-Imam had requested leniency, saying, “We are appealing for compassion and a transfer of the defendant to the Maximum Security Custodial Centre, Janguza.”
However, the court upheld the full sentence.
