A Plateau High Court sitting in Jos has sentenced a 24-year-old man, Godwin Banchir, to death by hanging for beating his 65-year-old mother to death.
Justice Daniel Longji pronounced the sentence after finding Banchir guilty of killing his mother.
The News Agency of Nigeria quoted the judge as saying while pronouncing the judgement, “Going by the findings of this court, you, Godwin Banchir, mercilessly took the life of your mother, Mrs Saratu Banchir, in cold blood.
“This sentence is mandatory, as the law states that any person convicted of murder shall be punished with death by hanging.
“The sentence of this court upon you is that you, Godwin Banchir, will be hanged until you are dead. May God have mercy on your soul.”
Banchir, in his confessional statement, stated that he returned from the farm and found his mother sitting in the compound but when he greeted her, she ignored him.
This, he said, infuriated him and he picked up a stick and hit her.
He stated, “I got angry when she did not respond to my greetings, so I picked up the handle of an axe and hit her around the ribs.
“She fell down and started shouting, which attracted our neighbours, who came to beat me up and later took me to the police station.
“I had been having misunderstandings with my mother. Each time I returned from the farm, she would not cook for me on time, and she always quarrelled with me whenever I wanted to bathe with the water she fetched from the stream.
“Her actions always annoyed me. I did not know that she was going to die from the beating she received from me.”
NAN
