Man sentenced to death by hanging for murder in Gombe

A Gombe State High Court sitting in Court No. 2 has sentenced an 18-year-old, Mustapha  Isah, on Tuesday to death by hanging for the offence of culpable homicide.

Delivering judgment, the presiding judge, Justice Abdulhamid-Mohammed Yakubu, held that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt and established that the accused intentionally caused the death of the victim.

“The evidence before this court clearly shows that the accused person committed the offence of culpable homicide punishable with death. The prosecution has successfully discharged the burden of proof placed upon it by law,” the judge ruled.

He consequently sentenced the convict to death by hanging in accordance with the provisions of the law.

The convict, Mustapha Isah, also known as Abbati, a resident of Santana Street in the Jekadafari area of Gombe, was found guilty of killing one Aishatu Abdullahi, popularly known as Damori, aged 58.

According to court records, the incident occurred on October 20, 2023, at about 9:00 p.m., when the convict unlawfully entered the residence of the deceased.

The court heard that he attacked the victim with a knife, inflicting fatal injuries that led to her death.

Justice Yakubu, while pronouncing the sentence, noted that the nature of the offence was grave and must be met with the full weight of the law to serve as a deterrent to others.

“The sanctity of human life must be protected. Any act that unlawfully takes life must be decisively dealt with in line with the law,” he added.

In 2025, a Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt convicted and sentenced one Charles Baridolee to death by hanging for the murder of Gerald Tekena in 2024.

Baridolee had been facing a murder trial for the death of Tekena, whom he allegedly inflicted with several machete cuts after a quarrel broke out between them in the Bodo community in the Gokana Local Government Area of the state.

Baridolee was said to have attacked Tekena after he declined a warning to stop giving money to his family, because the financial support was eroding the respect his family showed him. The attack led to Tekena’s death.