A High Court in Kano State on Friday, November 6, sentenced two men, Umar Auwalu and Yakubu Dayyabu, to death by hanging for the murder of a housewife, Fatima Abubakar and her six children at Dorayi Chiranchi Quarters, Kano.
Auwalu and Dayyabu were convicted on a nine-count charge of conspiracy, culpable homicide, and armed robbery.
The third defendant, Isyaku Yakubu, was however discharged and acquitted.Delivering judgment, Justice Nasiru Saminu held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against the convicts.
The judge described the killing of the mother and her six children as a horrific crime that challenged the conscience of society.
He said the deceased were entitled to the protection of their home but were attacked by people who ought to have protected them, noting that the first defendant was the nephew of the housewife.
The judge added that Haruna Bashir, the husband and father of the deceased, had been thrown into anguish, adding that no compensation could restore the lives lost or erase the trauma.
“How I wish there was a punishment heavier than this. My emphasis is not to administer vengeance but justice,” he said
The judge sentenced Umar Auwalu and Dayyabu to life imprisonment with hard labour each for conspiracy and armed robbery. He also sentenced them to death by hanging for culpable homicide.
While discharging and acquitting the third defendant, the judge said there was no credible evidence establishing that he conspired with the convicts.
He said although there were telephone conversations between them, the contents of the conversations were not established.
The judge added that evidence showed that Isyaku was at Gano attending a Qur’anic graduation ceremony at the time of the incident.
Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel who is also the Attorney General of Kano State, Abdulkarim Kabiru-Maude, told the court that the convicts committed the offences on January 17 at Dorayi Chiranchi Quarters Kano.
Kabir-Maude said that on the same date at about 11:30 a.m , the convicts conspired, armed themselves with sticks, iron rod, sharp cutlass and trespassed into the house of Fatima, robbed her of her two handsets and cash sum of N200,000.
“In the process the defendants hit Fatima with a stick and iron rod on her neck and hit her with a sewing machine on her head which killed her.
“The convicts, after killing the six children, threw Faruk and Abdulsalam into a well at the house,” he said.
