Sokoto Court sentences three CJTF members to death

On Thursday, a Sokoto State High Court delivered death sentences to three members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, CJTF, for their involvement in a deadly armed robbery in Goronyo Local Government Area. The trio, identified as Gaji Hassan, Abdullahi Goni Gudusu, and Modu Bukar, were found guilty of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, and culpable homicide by Justice Kabiru Muhammad. The court's Public Relations Officer, Nakwanta Muhammad Garba, informed the public of this verdict via a statement.

The incident transpired on September 19, 2024, in Kagara village, where the three men allegedly ambushed Babangida Nasiru and a woman while armed with rifles. Subsequent testimony revealed that Nasiru was robbed of N260,000 and detained, only to be found dead with bullet wounds to his chest and neck. Both prosecutors and defense lawyers presented evidence in court.

Two witnesses backed the prosecution's claims. Justice Muhammad deemed the surviving eyewitness account credible and irrelevant to the defendants' claim that they had freed Nasiru, as no satisfactory explanation for his death was provided. The judge held the defendants' confessions as voluntary, dismissing any allegations of torture as unsubstantiated. The eyewitness testimony proved sufficient to establish the defendants' guilt.

Ultimately, the court sentenced each defendant to death by hanging, adhering to the punishment outlined in the Sokoto State Penal Code Law, 2019.