On Tuesday, the Yobe State High Court in Potiskum sentenced Lance Corporal John Gabriel, a dismissed soldier, to death by hanging, and Lance Corporal Adamu Gideon to 10 years imprisonment at the Nigerian Correctional Service. Justice Usman Zanna Mohammed convicted Gabriel, attached to 241 Recce Battalion, Nguru, and Gideon, finding them guilty of murder and conspiracy, respectively.
In delivering the judgment, Justice Mohammed stated that, considering the facts presented and the defendants’ failure to produce essential witnesses to support their claim, he sentenced the two convicts in accordance with the law.
The sentencing follows the murder of prominent Islamic scholar Sheikh Goni Aisami in Karasuwa Local Government Area of Yobe State on August 22, 2022, by a soldier to whom he had given a lift while traveling from Kano to Gashua. Outraged by the soldiers’ actions, the Yobe State Government pursued the case through the Ministry of Justice, resulting in the recent court judgment.
