Court sentences four family members to death for killing alleged witch

The Jigawa State High Court has sentenced four family members to death by hanging for killing a neighbour they accused of witchcraft.

The judge, Ado Yusuf, found 55-year-old Hassan Isah, his wife, brother and sister-in-law guilty of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide.

The family members had told police investigators that Salamatu Musa, their 30-year-old neighbour, used witchcraft to kill their son.

The Director of Protocol and Publicity, Jigawa State Judiciary, Abbas Wangara, disclosed the development in a statement on Wednesday in Dutse, the state capital.

Mr Wangara said the convicts committed the offence in 2019 in Mallammadori Local Government Area.

They were convicted of beating Ms Musa with a stick, resulting in her death.

According to Mr Wangara, the convicts—Hassan Isah (55 years old), Adama Yahaya (42 years old), Abdullahi Yahaya (35 years old), and Maryam Daso Yahaya (28 years old)—lived with the deceased at the same address in Kwan-Dole, a village in Mallam-Madori Local Government Area of Jigawa State.

“Upon prosecution, the court heard five (5) witnesses and a medical report, apart from a confessional statement, thereby the court found them guilty for the offence of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide punishable under Section 97 and Section 221(b) of the Penal Code Laws”, the official statement said.

The court sentenced the convicts to “six years imprisonment each for the offence of criminal conspiracy, and death by hanging for the offence of culpable homicide.

“They have ninety (90) days right of appeal”, the statement added.