In a recent verdict, the Yobe State High Court in Potiskum sentenced a discharged soldier, Lance Corporal John Gabriel, to death by hanging, while Lance Corporal Adamu Gideon received a 10-year imprisonment term at the Nigerian Correctional Service.
Justice Usman Zanna Mohammed found Gabriel, assigned to 241 Recce Battalion, Nguru, and Gideon guilty of murder and conspiracy, respectively, and delivered the sentence after careful consideration of the presented facts and the absence of crucial witnesses supporting the defendants’ claims.
Justice Mohammed justified the sentences, aligning them with the stipulations of the law. The case originated from the murder of Islamic scholar Sheikh Goni Aisami in Karasuwa Local Government Area of Yobe State on August 22, 2022, perpetrated by a soldier he had given a lift to while traveling from Kano to Gashua.
Reacting to the ex-soldiers’ actions, the Yobe State Government pursued the matter through the Ministry of Justice, leading to the recent court judgment.
