A 50 year old father of 15, Abubakar Abdulkadir is to spend 7 years behind bars for killing, cutting and roasting the remains of a 4 year old for boy with an intention to sell the roasted human being to a native doctor.
Abdulkadir of Mallam Alingora Village, Ardo Kola Local Government Area of Taraba state was convicted and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment by Taraba state High Court presided Justice J. F. Agya.
The judgement of the court was also affirmed by the Court of Appeal sitting in Yola, Adamawa state after dismissing an appeal filed before it by the convict through his counsel, Benson Vaatsah.
The convict was arraigned before the court for allegedly causing the death of a 4 year Ali Gimba where he cut him into pieces, roasted his remains, packed it into a sack with an intention of taking it to an undisclosed destination.
In his confessional statement, the convict narrated that the victim and his nephew used to come to his house to play with his children, saying that the boy was always closed to him because he used to give him biscuits and sweat.
He confessed that he actually cut the boy into pieces and packed his remains into a sack with the intention of selling the body parts to a native doctor, but denied killing him, saying that the boy died in his house before doing what he did.
The father of the victim and elder brother to the convict, Gimba Sambo who also testified in court, narrated that he went to the house of his friend on the 27th April, 2017, and on his return around 11:00pm, his wife asked him the whereabout of Ali, saying that when they discovered that Ali did not return home, he woke up other children in the house to look for him.
Sambo said that he called the Chairman of the Vigilante who advised him to report the matter to the police, saying that while the children were searching for him, they saw his cloth stained with blood near his younger brother's house.
According to him, the children entered his brother's house, but when they attempted to enter his room, he threatened them with a knife and a big hoe, saying that the convict started fighting anyone who made effort to enter his room.
He added that convict came out of his room and shut the door behind him, and that from there they noticed that something was happening in the room, narrating that he was over powered by his children and other neighbours who arrested.
Also testifying, the Investigative Police Officer(IPO), Sergeant Zanya Gunduma of Sunkani Divisional Police headquarters, said that the case was referred to him on that fateful night for investigation, saying that he immediately rushed to the scene of the incident.
Sergeant Zanya said that upon his arrival, he broke into the room and found a sack containing roasted human parts which was cut into pieces, and that a knife and a hoe were recovered, saying that he also saw a hole inside the room where the blood of the deceased was buried.
But when the convict was arrested and arraigned before the court, he pleaded not guilty to the offence. But in an effort to establish its case against him, the prosecution called 7 witnesses who testified in court, while the defendant testified as sole witness.
Delivering its judgment on the matter on the 23rd July, 2019, the court presided by Justice J. F. Agya, convicted and sentenced him to 2 years imprisonment for the offence of being in possession of human remains under section 216 of penal code law of Taraba state.
For the offence of unlawful possession of human head under section 219 of the same code, the court convicted him for 5 years imprisonment without option of fine.
According to the judge, the sentences will run consecutively which means the convict will serve a cumulative sentence of 7 years in prison.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, the convict approached Yola Court of Appeal on the 10th October, 2019, through his counsel, B. Vaatsah and lodged his appeal where he asked the court to set aside part of the judgment of the high court and discharge and acquit his client.
After evaluating all the evidences tendered, Justice Justice Jamilu Y. Tukur of the Appeal Court on Wenesday, dismissed the appeal and upheld the judgment of the lower court.
No comments:
Post a Comment