AISHA ABUBAKAR
A guard, Shamsu Lawal and the cook, Tasi’u Rabi’u, who were domestic staff
to former Katsina State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Rabe Nasir, has been sentenced to death for poisoning him in his home.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that it was the judgment of the Katsina State High Court which found them guilty and sentenced them accordingly.
The convicted men allegedly killed the deceased in 2021 after they failed to steal from him.
The presiding judge, Justice Ibrahim Mashi, found Shamsu Lawal and Tasi’u Rabi’u, guilty of poisoning Nasir leading to his death.
According to the prosecution, the duo resorted to poisoning the former Commissioner after failed attempts to steal from him.
The joint autopsy conducted by the Police and the hospital confirmed the presence of poison in Nasir’s body.
The Court also sentenced another former guard of the deceased, Sani Sa’adu, to five years in prison for concealing the truth about the murder.
However, the court acquitted a lady, named Gift Bako, due to lack of sufficient evidence linking her to the crime.
Lawyer to the convicts, Ahmad Murtala Kankia, pleaded for leniency, emphasising that “the convicts have families and dependents”.
The late Nasir served as the Commissioner for Science and Technology in Katsina State during the administration of former Governor Aminu Masari.
The deceased was also a former Federal legislator representing Mani and Bindawa Local Government Areas in 2003.