Man Who Set Mother Ablaze Sentenced To Death By Hanging

AISHA ABUBAKAR 

A man, Stephen Jiya, who murdered his 61-year old mother, Comfort Jiya, by  setting her on fire has been sentenced to death by hanging in Niger State.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the incident happened in December, 2021 in Suleja area of Niger State, where the mother, Mrs. Comfort Jiya, who was brutally attacked and killed in the process by her biological son, Stephen.

 

The late Mrs. Jiya, who was a retired Director in Niger State Ministry of Education, was accused by his son, Stephen, of being behind his wife’s disappearance from home in Suleja, following a misunderstanding and consequently he set her ablaze.

 

He was later arrested and charged before the Niger State High Court for murder under the Criminal Laws of the State.

The Chief Judge of Niger State, Justice Halima Ibrahim Abdulmalik, who delivered the judgment of culpable homicide against Jiya, stated that Stephen was found guilty of culpable homicide punishable under Section 221 of the Penal Code Law, which attracts the death penalty.

The convict, Stephen Jiya, was arraigned before the Chief Judge on 14th September, 2022, while hearing into the case began 23rd November, 2022.

Delivering the judgment, Abdulmalik noted that all the evidence and prosecuting witnesses, who testified before the Court, were able to prove that the convict was responsible for the death of his mother.

She added that the circumstances of the sentence of the Court upon Jiya was that he should be hanged by the neck, electrocuted, executed, or injected with lethal injection until he is dead, while she declared that he would be hanged by the neck.

Jiya was arrested on December 20, 2021 by Police operatives attached to the G.R.A Division for killing his mother.
And during interrogation, he confessed that he had a misunderstanding with his wife but when he returned home from work the next day, she had left his home in Suleja to Minna.

He confessed that he went to his family house because he suspected his mother was behind his wife’s leaving the house and he got a plastic bottle of fuel, which he poured on his mother, who was cooking in the kitchen when he arrived and she was roasted.

Neighbours, who came to her rescue, took her to the Minna General Hospital, where she was referred due to how severe the burns were. She died later in the day in the hospital and her corpse was deposited at mortuary for autopsy report.