A police officer has been sentenced to death by hanging (or by lethal injection) for the killing of a student of University of Jos (UNIJOS), bringing to a close a high-profile case that has stirred calls for justice for years.
According to judgement delivered on Tuesday by Plateau State High Court in Jos, the victim — Rinji Bala, a 300-level student — was shot dead on May 12, 2020, while in custody. The convicted officer, Ruya Auta, previously attached to a security task force in Jos, was found guilty of culpable homicide after a review of evidence and witness testimony.
Court records show that Bala and two friends were arrested even though no incriminating evidence was found, and after being beaten and initially released, they were told to run — at which point Bala was shot and killed. Prosecutors demonstrated that the firearm discharge was intentional, contradicting the officer’s claim of accidental shooting.
The verdict has been hailed by many as a landmark affirmation that security personnel can be held to account — a message that unlawful violence and abuse cannot go unpunished, regardless of rank or position. Yet for the victim’s family and friends, the ruling is a bittersweet moment: a long-awaited justice but no undoing of the pain and loss suffered.
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