Appeal Court Acquits Woman Sentenced To Death For Killing Husband

The Makurdi Division of the Court of Appeal has acquitted Amina Zubairu, the wife of a traditional ruler sentenced to death by a lower court.

This comes two years after the appellant was sentenced to death by a High Court sitting in Lafia, the Nasarawa State.

The lower court had convicted Amina and sentenced her to death in 2018 for killing her husband, Adamu Zubairu, who was at the time the traditional ruler of Gom Mama in Wamba Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

She was said to have committed the crime in 2014 by injecting her late husband with some substance that led to his death.

Displeased with the decision of the high court, the defendant filed an application at the appeal court, seeking to upturn the judgement of the lower court.

In its ruling on the appeal on March 12, 2021, the appellate court held that the case lacked evidence of truth.

It added that the decision of the lower court was a miscarriage of justice and cannot be entertained in the appellate court.

The court, thereafter, set aside the judgment delivered on December 11, 2018, by the lower court sentencing the appellant to death.

It held that the judgement was biased against the defendant and acquitted her of the death by hanging sentence.

Reacting to the judgement, counsel to the appellant, Shikammah Sheltu, commended the decision of the appellate court.

He also thanked the court for the speedy dispensation of justice in the case, saying his client would be relieved from the conviction.

On his part, the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Nasarawa State, Abdulkarim Kana, said the government would study the judgement to decide whether to appeal it or not.