Amina Aliyu and her sister Aishat Mohammed have been sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of Amina’s co-wife, Hafsat Fatima Aliyu.
The crime occurred in March 2021 at their family home in Barkin Saleh, Minna, about seven weeks after Hafsat married Alhaji Muhammad Sani.
The prosecution presented evidence that Aishat attacked Hafsat with a pestle before setting her body on fire in the kitchen. During the trial, which lasted three years, four witnesses testified, including Sani, who described how Amina was involved in Hafsat’s death.
Zainab, the youngest of the sisters, received a life sentence due to her status as a minor at the time of the crime.
Justice Balkisu Gambo Yusuf of the Minna High Court found the prosecution’s case proven beyond a doubt and confirmed that the punishment for culpable homicide under Section 221 of the Penal Code is death. The case initially began at the Minna Chief Magistrate Court before being transferred to the High Court for further proceedings.
In the sentencing, Peter Omale, the defense counsel for Zainab, requested leniency due to her age, and Justice Yusuf agreed, ruling that as of 2021, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) excluded individuals under 18 from facing the death penalty.