Court sentences 24 year old to death for stabbing his father

A High Court in Lokoja has sentenced 24-year-old Dahiru Yusuf Abbah to death by hanging for the murder of his own father.

Justice M.M. Gwatana, who delivered the judgment on Monday, found the young man guilty of culpable homicide. The court heard that Abbah intentionally stabbed his father, Dahiru Yusuf, in the chest and back during an attack in the Sarkin-Noma area of Lokoja on October 5, 2024, which he later succumbed to his injuries in a hospital four days later.

State prosecutors built a strong case using circumstantial evidence, as there were no eyewitnesses present during the attack. They called nine witnesses to the stand, including the wife of the victim and the siblings of the defendant to testify against him.

The state prosecutors also presented physical proof linking him to the crime, including the knife used in the attack, the blood-stained shirt of the defendant, and digital forensic reports. According to the judge, the blood-stained clothes combined with the family’s testimonies provided more than enough evidence to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The court dismissed the defendant’s alibi after the people he claimed to be with on the night of the murder failed to appear to testify.

The head of the deceased’s family, Yusuf Bala, welcomed the court’s decision, stating that it brings a painful but necessary closure.

“We have nothing against the defendant, but we wanted justice to be done to serve as a deterrent to others”, Bala said.

On the other side, the defense lawyers Mohammed S. Inuwa and Mohammed S. Maihaja confirmed they plan to appeal the death sentence, stressing that the judge relied on inadmissible evidence to reach his conclusion.