Former soldier sentenced to death for murdering Islamic cleric

Lance Corporal John Gabriel, a dismissed soldier, was condemned to death by hanging by the Yobe State High Court on Tuesday in Potiskum, while Lance Corporal Adamu Gideon was given a ten-year prison sentence at the Nigerian Correctional Service.

Gabriel, Nguru, Gideon, and the Nigerian Army number N/A13/69/6522 attached to 241 Recce Battalion were found guilty of murder and conspiracy, respectively, by Justice Usman Zanna Mohammed.

Justice Mohammed delivered the verdict, ruling that the two guilty parties were sentenced in accordance with the law after carefully examining the evidence presented to the court and the defendants’ refusal to call key witnesses to support their case.

Recall that on August 22, 2022, Sheikh Goni Aisami, a well-known Islamic scholar living in Gashua, was killed in the Karasuwa Local Government Area of Yobe State by a soldier he provided a ride to while travelling from Kano to Gashua.

Outraged by the former soldiers’ actions, the Yobe State Government filed a lawsuit through the Ministry of Justice, which resulted in the ruling.