Friday, October 23, 2026 - The Sokoto State High Court has sentenced three members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) to death by hanging after convicting them of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and culpable homicide.
The convicts are Gaji Hassan, Abdullahi Goni Gudusu and Modu
Bukar.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, October 22, 2026, in
Suit No. SS/78C/2026, The State vs Gaji Hassan and 2 Others, Justice Kabiru
Muhammad found the defendants guilty on all three counts.
According to a statement issued by the court’s Public
Relations Officer, Nakwanta Muhammad Garba, the incident occurred on September
19, 2024, at about 4:30 p.m. in Kagara village, Goronyo Local Government Area
of Sokoto State.
The court heard that the convicts, armed with rifles,
stopped Babangida Nasiru and a female companion before taking them into the
bush.
They allegedly collected N260,000 from Nasiru and held him
in their custody.
He was later found unalive with gunshot wounds to his chest
and neck.
The prosecution called two witnesses during the trial, while
the judge described the surviving eyewitness’s testimony as credible and
unshaken.
The court rejected the defendants’ claim that they had
released the deceased, holding that they failed to explain his death under the
legal principle of “last seen.”
Justice Muhammad also ruled that the defendants’
confessional statements were voluntary and admissible, noting that their
allegations of torture were not corroborated.
The judge held that the surviving eyewitness’s testimony
alone was sufficient to establish their guilt.
Citing the mandatory punishment prescribed under the Sokoto
State Penal Code Law, 2019, the court sentenced each of the three convicts to
death by hanging.
However, the judge informed them of their right to appeal
the judgment at the Court of Appeal within 90 days.
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