A High Court sitting in Gombe on Wednesday sentenced a 25-year-old man, Hassan Mohammed of Falangaya village in Dukku Local Government Area, to death by hanging for the killing of his former wife, Halimatu Sadiya-Adamu.
The judgement was delivered by Abdulhamid Mohammed-Yakubu, the presiding judge of High Court No. 2 in Gombe.
The prosecution told the court that the incident occurred on March 25, 2025, at about 1:00 p.m., when the defendant allegedly attacked his former wife with a knife after she refused to remarry him.
According to the prosecution, Hassan Mohammed slit the victim’s throat during the attack, leading to her death.
The Director of Public Prosecution in the state, Abubakar Kungudo, who led the prosecution, told the court that the offence contravened Section 221 of the Penal Code Law.
Kungudo said, “The offence committed by the defendant is contrary to Section 221 of the Penal Code Law. The prosecution presented six witnesses who testified before the court on what they saw at the scene of the incident.”
He added that the knife allegedly used in the attack was also tendered before the court as an exhibit.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him.
During the trial, the defence counsel, Habib Alkali, cross-examined the six prosecution witnesses.
Alkali later presented the defendant as the sole defence witness. Hassan Mohammed denied committing the offence during his testimony, but he was subsequently cross-examined by the prosecution.
In his judgement, Justice Yakubu held that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
“Having carefully considered the testimonies of the witnesses, the exhibits presented before the court, as well as the confessional statement of the defendant and the police investigation, the court finds the accused person guilty of culpable homicide,” the judge ruled.
Justice Yakubu therefore convicted Hassan Mohammed for culpable homicide punishable under Section 221 of the Penal Code Law.
“The sentence of this court upon you, Hassan Mohammed, is death by hanging as provided under Section 221 of the Penal Code Law,” the judge declared.
The court held that the evidence before it established that the defendant killed his former wife after she rejected his request to remarry him.
