COURT SENTENCES MAN TO 21 YRS IN PRISON FOR MURDER IN ADAMAWA

Adamawa State High Court of Justice sitting in Ganye, on Wednesday, convicted and sentenced a man identified as Nuhu Pius to 21 years imprisonment.

The court presided by Hon. Justice Maxwell T. Pukuma, sentenced the convict after he was tried and found guilty on 1 count charge of "culpable homicide".

Hon. Justice Pukuma had while delivering a judgement, declared that the sentence will start running from the day his remand, and that it is without an option of fine.

The Hon. Judge held that the prosecution has proven its case against the 32 years old Nuhu Pius as provided by law and therefore found him guilty as charged.

The convict, Nuhu was arraigned before the court on the 14th April, 2022 where he pleaded not guilty to the alleged offence.

In a bid to establish its case against the convict, the prosecution called 4 witnesses who testified in court and tendered a confessional statement which was rejected after a trial within trial was conducted.

The convict was arraigned before the court for culpable homicide not punishable with death contrary to section 193(1) of the Penal Code Law 2018 and punishable under the same section.

According to the prosecution, Nuhu had on or about the 7th December, 2019 at a tea joint in Trigali village, in Ganye Local Government Area in the state caused the death of Gabriel Solomon.

The prosecution told the court that the convict had engaged in a fight with Wari, and in the course of it, the deceased who was trying to separate them, hit the convict with a stick on his head.

While deprived of the power of self- control following sudden provocation, the deceased in retaliation did an illegal act to wit by stabbing him with a knife on the chest, which resulted to his death.

Earlier, when asked whether he has an allocutus, the convict who spoke through his counsel, Obidah N. Oliver, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy because the convict is a first time offender and family.

In his reaction shortly after the judgement, Obidah appreciated the court for the judgement, saying that he will have a conference with his client and see whether they will challenge the judgement at the court of appeal.