Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The Gombe State High Court sitting in Court No. 5 on Wednesday sentenced two men, Buhari Sule and Muktari Ali Hilami, to death by hanging for armed robbery and the murder of a 35-year-old man, Murtala Rabi’u, bringing to a close a trial that had gripped the community of Garin Galadima near Pindiga in Akko Local Government Area since the brutal killing in September 2025.
The court, presided over by Justice Muhammad-Auwal Haruna, found the two defendants guilty of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and culpable homicide. The charges were brought under Sections 97, 297 and 221 of the Penal Code Law, and the prosecution, led by state counsel Abdulkadir Ibrahim, presented a case that the court ultimately found compelling. According to the prosecution, the defendants conspired and armed themselves with dangerous weapons, including sticks and hoes, before attacking and robbing the deceased of his mobile phone and N7,400 in cash. The prosecution told the court that the defendants inflicted severe injuries on Rabi’u, leading to his death, before dumping his body in a maize farm. The robbery yielded an Itel keypad phone without a SIM card and the sum of N7,400, which the defendants shared among themselves after disposing of the body.
The charges were read and explained to the defendants, who pleaded not guilty. During the trial, the prosecution called two witnesses who testified before the court and were cross-examined by defence counsel Dan Mamman. The defence subsequently called one witness, who was also cross-examined by the prosecution. Delivering judgment, Justice Haruna said the court had carefully considered the evidence presented by both the prosecution and the defence. “The court has gone through all the charges brought by the prosecution, the evidence of the witnesses and the testimony presented by the defence,” the judge said. He held that the prosecution had established its case beyond reasonable doubt, relying particularly on the testimony of the first prosecution witness. “The prosecution has established its case and proved the allegations against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt,” Justice Haruna stated, adding that the defendants “failed to establish their defence against the charges brought against them.” The court consequently found Buhari Sule and Muktari Ali Hilami guilty of the offences and sentenced them to death by hanging, declaring that they should be “hanged by the neck until they are dead.”
The judgment brings to an end a case that began on September 18, 2025, when Rabi’u was attacked at Garin Galadima village. The prosecution’s account, which the court accepted, was that the defendants had agreed among themselves to rob the deceased, armed themselves with dangerous weapons and carried out the attack. The severity of the injuries inflicted on Rabi’u, and the fact that his body was dumped in a maize farm after the robbery, underscored the brutality of the crime. The court’s decision to impose the maximum penalty reflects the gravity with which the judicial system views armed robbery and culpable homicide, particularly when the two offences are combined in a single incident.
The case is the latest in a series of death sentences handed down by Gombe State High Courts in recent months. In March 2026, a High Court sitting in Gombe sentenced a 25-year-old man, Hassan Mohammed, to death by hanging for the murder of his former wife, Halimatu Sadiya-Adamu, a resident of Falangaya village. In April 2026, an 18-year-old, Mustapha Isah, was sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of a 58-year-old woman, Aishatu Abdullahi, in the Jekadafari area of Gombe. In July 2025, a Gombe State High Court sentenced three men to death by hanging after finding them guilty of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide over the killing of one Ibrahim Yahaya in 2022. These cases reflect a consistent pattern of capital punishment being applied in the state for the most serious offences, and they contribute to Nigeria’s position as one of the countries with the highest number of death sentences globally.
The death penalty remains a contentious issue in Nigeria, where it is provided for under the Penal Code for offences including culpable homicide and armed robbery, and under the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act. Human rights organisations, including the Hope Behind Bars Africa, have argued that the death penalty is not an effective deterrent to crime, citing the persistence of violent offences despite its retention in the statute books. The debate over capital punishment intersects with broader concerns about the Nigerian criminal justice system, including the length of trials, the conditions of detention and the availability of legal representation for indigent defendants. In the Gombe case, the defendants had legal representation through defence counsel Dan Mamman, and the trial proceeded to judgment within approximately thirteen months of the offence, a relatively swift timeline by Nigerian standards.
The judgment also raises questions about the nature of the crime and the circumstances that led to it. A mobile phone and N7,400 are modest sums by any measure, yet they cost a man his life and have now cost two others their own. The defendants are expected to have the right to appeal the judgment, and the case may proceed to the Court of Appeal, where previous convictions for armed robbery in Gombe have been quashed on appeal. In 2021, the Court of Appeal sitting in Gombe discharged and acquitted Jeremiah Stephen for conspiracy and armed robbery, setting aside the death sentence imposed by the High Court. The same court quashed the conviction of Sale Umar for armed robbery, overturning a death sentence handed down by Justice Beatrice Iliya. These precedents underscore the importance of the appellate process in ensuring that convictions are based on sufficient evidence and that the rights of defendants are protected.
For the family of Murtala Rabi’u, the judgment represents a measure of closure after more than a year of waiting for the legal process to conclude. For the community of Garin Galadima, the verdict is a reminder of the violence that claimed one of their own and the consequences that followed. For Buhari Sule and Muktari Ali Hilami, the sentence is the most severe penalty the law allows, and their remaining legal options will now determine whether the judgment stands or whether the appellate courts intervene. As Justice Haruna declared in his judgment, the prosecution established its case beyond reasonable doubt, and the defendants failed to establish a defence. The court has spoken, and the next chapter will be written in the Court of Appeal.
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