Ex-soldier bags de@th sentence for k!lling Islamic cleric

Yobe State High Court sitting in Potiskum on Tuesday sentenced a dismissed soldier, Lance Corporal John Gabriel, to death by hanging and Lance Corporal Adamu Gideon to 10 years imprisonment at the Nigerian Correctional Service.

Justice Usman Zanna Mohammed convicted Gabriel, with Nigerian Army number N/A13/69/6522 attached to 241 Recce Battalion, Nguru, and Gideon, after he found them guilty of the offences of murder and conspiracy, respectively.

Delivering the judgement, Justice Mohammed held that after careful consideration of the facts before the court and the failure of the defendants to provide essential witnesses to corroborate their claim, he sentenced the two convicts in line with the provisions of the law.

Rcall that a prominent Islamic scholar based in Gashua, Sheikh Goni Aisami, was murdered in Karasuwa Local Government Area of Yobe State by a soldier whom he gave a lift to while on his way to Gashua from Kano on August 22, 2022.

Angered by the action of the ex-soldiers, the Yobe State Government, through the Ministry of Justice, took the matter to court, which led to the judgement.