A High Court sitting in Lokoja has sentenced a 24-year-old man, Dahiru Yusuf Abbah, to death by hanging for killing his father, Dahiru Yusuf, in the Sarkin-Noma area of Lokoja.

Delivering judgement on Monday, the presiding judge, Justice M.M. Gwatana, found the defendant guilty of culpable homicide punishable with death under Section 221 of the Kogi State Penal Code, 2019.

The judge held that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally inflicted fatal injuries on his father, leading to his death.

The incident occurred on October 5, 2024, after which the defendant was arrested and arraigned on a two-count charge of culpable homicide and criminal conspiracy under Sections 221 and 97(1) of the Kogi State Penal Code, 2019 (as amended), in case No. HCL/01C/2025.

Prosecution counsel, Barrister M. Abaji, told the court in his written address that the defendant stabbed his father in the chest and back during the attack.

He said the victim was confirmed dead at a hospital on October 9, 2024, from injuries sustained in the attack.

During the trial, the prosecution called nine witnesses, including the deceased’s wife, Hajia Jumai Dahiru (PW1), and the defendant’s siblings, Nafisat Dahiru (PW2) and Auwwal Dahiru (PW3).

It also tendered nine exhibits, including the defendant’s blood-stained shirt (Exhibit P12A), the deceased’s blood sample (Exhibit P12B), a knife (Exhibit P11), a digital forensic report (Exhibit P14) and a CD analysis (Exhibit P15C).

The court noted that the defendant did not call any witness in his defence, except an Islamic cleric who testified on inheritance, which the court dismissed as irrelevant.

“This is a case of culpable homicide, not an inheritance case,” the court held.

The three other persons mentioned by the defendant — a tea seller, Mai Shai, Aunty Ladidi and Danladi — who could have established his alibi for the night of the incident, did not appear to testify.

Justice Gwatana said that in a criminal trial, an offence could be established through direct evidence, such as an eyewitness account, a confessional statement or circumstantial evidence.

He said that under Sections 221 and 97(1) of the Penal Code, the prosecution was required to establish its case with credible evidence.

The judge noted that although none of the nine witnesses saw the defendant stabbing his father, the prosecution had established the case through circumstantial evidence beyond reasonable doubt.

He said Exhibit P12, the defendant’s blood-stained clothes, together with the testimonies of PW1, PW2 and PW3, provided more than 80 per cent of the evidence required to establish the case.

Justice Gwatana ruled: “The prosecution has successfully proved the case of culpable homicide against the defendant,” and consequently found him guilty as charged.

The court, however, dismissed the charge of criminal conspiracy for lack of evidence.

In his final ruling, Justice Gwatana sentenced the defendant to death by hanging for killing his father.

Reacting to the judgement, defence counsel, Mohammed S. Inuwa and Mohammed S. Maihaja, commended the judgement but said their client would appeal, arguing that the judge “relied on inadmissible evidence to arrive at the determination of guilt.”

The head of the deceased’s family, Yusuf Bala, welcomed the judgement, saying justice had been done.

“We have nothing against the defendant, but we wanted justice to be done to serve as a deterrent to others,” he said.

Amnesty International Nigeria has decried the prolonged captivity of 42 schoolchildren abducted in Askira Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, 144 days after they were taken.

In a Tuesday statement titled “Nigeria: Borno’s Forgotten Children”, the rights group recalled that the pupils of Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School were abducted by gunmen on May 15, 2026, and have remained in captivity since then.

Amnesty noted that more abductions have occurred across the north since then and warned that Nigeria is failing its children.

“No child should go through what children are going through now in Nigeria. Education should not be a matter of life and death for anyone. Nigeria is failing children once again in a horrifying manner,” the organisation said in the statement posted on Facebook.

Amnesty argued that the future of thousands of schoolchildren in northern Nigeria remains bleak as hundreds of schools in some states have been closed indefinitely due to rising insecurity.

Many children, it said, have abandoned education due to psychological trauma from witnessing violent attacks or living in captivity.

Amnesty called on the Federal Government to intensify efforts to safely rescue all schoolchildren in captivity and to hold suspected perpetrators to account.

The May 15 incident was one of two major school abductions in Askira Uba LGA this year.

On June 29, gunmen invaded Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, while students were writing their National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations and abducted 36 students comprising 25 girls and 11 boys.

The two incidents brought the total number of schoolchildren abducted from the area to 78.

In July, the Borno State Government said it had received a 15-second proof-of-life video of the Lassa students, with Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Abba Wakilbe, saying government was working to secure their release.

In late September, the Borno State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) called for the rescue of the 78 schoolchildren from Mussa and Lassa who had spent more than 100 days in captivity at the time.

Parents of the children also staged protests and issued ultimatums to the Federal Government to rescue the children, which have proved futile.

The Senate has indefinitely postponed its two-day National Security Summit, initially scheduled for October 12 and 13, 2026, following the tragic crash of a Nigerian Air Force aircraft in Ondo State that claimed 32 lives.

The decision was announced on Tuesday in a statement personally signed by Senate Leader and Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the National Security Summit, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.

The Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft crashed in Igbokoda, headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, killing 25 officers and seven crew members on board.

Following the tragedy, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared three days of national mourning and directed that national flags be flown at half-mast nationwide. The upper chamber resolved to defer the summit to align with the period of national mourning and honour the fallen personnel.

The ad-hoc committee had recently concluded plans for the high-level summit following the completion of zonal public hearings.

The gathering is aimed at addressing Nigeria’s ongoing security challenges and proposing actionable solutions to protect lives and property across the country.

Extending its condolences, the Senate expressed deep sympathy to President Tinubu, the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Nigerian Air Force, and the families of the officers and crew members who lost their lives in active service.

The Senate leadership noted that a new date for the summit would be announced in due course, appealing to all key stakeholders to stand with the nation during this period of grief.