A 39-year old man, Stephen Jiya, who set his mother on fire in December 2021, resulting in her death, has been sentenced to death by hanging.
Jiya killed his 61-year-old mother, Mrs. Comfort Jiya, a retired director in Niger State Ministry of Education, after accusing her of being behind his wife’s disappearance from home in Suleja, following a misunderstanding.
The Chief Judge of Niger State, Justice Halima Ibrahim Abdulmalik, who delivered the judgment of culpable homicide against Jiya, said he was found guilty of culpable homicide punishable under Section 221 of the Penal Code Law, which attracts the death penalty.
Jiya was arraigned before the chief judge on September 14, 2022, while hearing into the case began on November 23, 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.