Fact Check: Was Mustapha Abubakar sentenced to Death at the age of 14 for Kidnapping, Homicide in Borno?

Fact Check: Was Mustapha Abubakar sentenced to Death at the age of 14 for Kidnapping, Homicide in Borno?

Claims: There is a media report about a young man Mustapha Abubakar who was allegedly sentenced to death at the age of 14 by an High Court for kidnapping and culpable homicide.

Full Text: The media reported 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.

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” 

What is the punishment for a kidnapping offense that leads to the victim’s death? And what does the juvenile law say on death sentences for under ages in Nigeria? Let’s unravel this incident.

Verification: 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.

Also our fact check revealed that Section 319 of the Criminal Code Act in Nigeria, stipulates that “Punishment of murder provides for juveniles includes:

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section of this Code, any person who commits the offense of murder shall be sentenced to death.

(2) Where an offender who in the opinion of the court had not attained the age of seventeen years at the time the offense was committed, has been found guilty of murder, such offender shall not be sentenced to death but shall be ordered to be detained during the pleasure of the President and upon such an order being made the provisions of Part 44 of the Criminal Procedure Act shall apply”.

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.

Meanwhile, on whether death sentence can be imposed on person under Seventeen Years of Age, the decision of the Supreme Court MUSA V. STATE (2019) 2 NWLR PT. 1655 AT 140 cleared the air over a case in Jigawa state where 11 year old appelant Musa  commited murder when he hit Mohammadu Hamza on the head and other parts of his body with a stick.

“The Supreme court insisted that by virtue of section 270 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Jigawa State, no sentence of death shall be imposed on a person who is under seventeen years of age or on a pregnant woman. 

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.

Conclusion: 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.

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By PRNigeria