CERTAINLY: Young Borno Man Not Sentenced to Death for Kidnapping, Homicide at 14 Years – Fact Check
A young Borno man, Mustapha Abubakar, was not sentenced to death at the age of 14 for kidnapping and culpable homicide, says a fact check by PRNigeria.
The media reported (had) that Mustapha Abubakar, who is on death row had written to Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum that if he could not grant him clemency “within a reasonable time frame”, he should sign his death warrant. https://prnigeria.com/2023/09/13/fact-check-mustapha-abubakar/
According to the media, the inmate was sentenced to death by hanging at age 14 for kidnapping for ransom which led to the death of the hostage.
He alleged that he’s being “prostituted, subjected to physical, mental and unprotected sexual abuse from the older inmates”.
In order to verify the legality of his death sentence based on the age of the inmate, PRNigeria Fact check desk discovered that on September 28, 2017, the Nigerian Senate passed into law the Kidnapping, Abduction Act, which particularly specified a 30-year jail term for anyone caught colluding with an abductor to receive ransom for any person wrongfully confined.
The Act also stipulated a sentence on death for anyone whose kidnapping activities led to the death of any person.
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Also, according to Amnesty International it is a violation of the child rights for a juvenile or person under the age of 18 to serve life imprisonment or death sentence.
As the law has exempted a child under seventeen years from being sentenced to death and no other form of punishment can be inflicted on him even though found to be guilty of the offense of culpable homicide punishable with death, he is entitled to be acquitted and discharged.
Having established that a child under the age of 18 cannot be sentenced, PRNigeria fact checkers sought to verify the actual age of Mustapha at the time of his sentencing.
Court details exclusively sighted at the Maiduguri Correctional Centre by PRNigeria reveal the inmate details as follows:
Name of Court: High Court 13 Maiduguri
Name of Judge: Justice Fadawu Umoru
Name of Inmate: Mustapha Abubakar
Age: 18
Offence: Kidnapping and culpable homicide
Sentence:
Date of Sentence: February 1, 2022
When PRNigeria fact-checkers sought to know the actual date of birth of the inmate as captured in the documents, Prison sources said only the prosecutor who was not willing to divulge the information could do that.
Based on records exclusively sighted by PRNigeria, Mustapha Abubakar was 18 years-old when he was sentenced for a criminal offence leading to death of the victim. However, PRNigeria could not independently verify his actual date of birth.
PRNigeria therefore concludes that there is insufficient evidence to prove the actual age of the inmate.