Gang leader to die by hanging for killing man over land

A Kogi High Court sitting in Lokoja has sentenced the leader of a six-man gang, Mohammed Audu, to death by hanging for stabbing one Hussein Isa to death over a land dispute. The Chief Judge of the state, Justice Nasir Ajanah, handed down the sentence on Friday upon conviction of the accused in a case […]

A Kogi High Court sitting in Lokoja has sentenced the leader of a six-man gang, Mohammed Audu, to death by hanging for stabbing one Hussein Isa to death over a land dispute.

The Chief Judge of the state, Justice Nasir Ajanah, handed down the sentence on Friday upon conviction of the accused in a case of culpable homicide proffered against him.

“The sentence of the court upon you, Mohammed Sani Audu, is that you be hanged by the neck until you are certified dead or by lethal injection,” the judge ruled.

Audu, of Kaduna Junction in Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State, according to the prosecution, had led a six-man gang to a land which was in dispute between the families of the deceased and one of his gang members, Momoh Abaniki.

The deceased was said to have challenged the presence of the convict and his gang on the land and objected to its demarcation for the purpose of selling it.

An altercation ensued and Audu was said to have stabbed the deceased and given him deep machete cuts in the head.

In the process, other members of the gang kicked out at the deceased, resulting to his death after being taken to the hospital.

The accused had in his statement admitted as follows: 

“Myself and other five members mentioned above in my statement attacked Osivave Isa and his brother, Hussein Isa, the deceased, over a land matter between them and one of my gang members, Momoh-Jimoh Abanika, a.k.a  Mopol Team Leader.

“I did not collect money from anybody before I macheted and killed Hussein Isa and he is the first person I have ever killed. 

“I promise not to involve myself in any criminal act again,” he pleaded. (NAN)