The convict.
By agency report
A General Court Martial sitting at the Maxwell Khobe Military Cantonment, Rukuba, Jos, has sentenced a Nigerian soldier, Private Lukman Musa, to death by hanging.
The court, presided over by Brig.-Gen. Liafis Bello, President of the 3 Division Nigerian Army General Court Martial, on Thursday, sentenced Musa to death after convicting him of murder, culpable homicide and unlawful possession of ammunition.
The convict was found guilty and sentenced to death on the charge of culpable homicide, contrary to Section 220 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 221.
Musa was found guilty of being in possession of 34 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, without lawful authority.
He was also sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and dismissed from the Nigerian Army with ignominy on another count of unlawful possession of ammunition, contrary to Section 8(1) of the Firearms Act.
“Your action was not only barbaric and heartless, but a grave violation of military values and a betrayal of the Army’s constitutional duty to protect citizens.
“You mercilessly metamorphosed from a defender of citizens to a killer.
“Your action is an embarrassment and disgrace to the Nigerian Army,” Bello said.
Musa, who was serving under the 3 Division of the Nigerian Army in Jos, was earlier charged with killing a commercial tricycle rider, Abdulrahman Isa, in Azare town, Bauchi State.
He was alleged to have conspired with an accomplice, simply identified as Oba, by luring the deceased into his residence under the guise of helping him move his personal belongings.
According to the prosecution, Musa struck Isa on the head with a wooden object and then strangled him to death.
He then stuffed the victim’s body into a sack and went on to dump it between Shira and Yala villages in a bid to cover the crime.
The convict later sold the deceased’s tricycle.
