22-year-old employee poisons boss with rat poison, stabs him and burns body, court sentences him to death

• A Kano State High Court sentenced two young men to death by hanging for murdering their employer, Dahiru Musa.

• The court heard that the victim was allegedly poisoned with rat poison, stabbed multiple times and his body was later burned.

• A third defendant was sentenced to seven years in prison for helping after the crime and failing to report it.

• The court ruled that the prosecution proved the case beyond reasonable doubt and gave the convicts 90 days to appeal.

A Kano State High Court has sentenced two young men to death by hanging after finding them guilty of murdering their employer in a case that shocked many residents of the state.

The convicts, Adamu Aliyu, 22, and Mubarak Abdulsalam, 20, were found guilty of conspiring to kill Dahiru Musa, 32, before setting his body on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The court also sentenced a third defendant, Sadiq Sunusi, 19, to seven years in prison for helping after the crime and failing to report what happened to the authorities.

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Justice Fatima Adamu delivered the judgment on Monday, ruling that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The judge described the actions of the defendants as cruel, especially their decision to burn the victim's body after killing him.

According to the prosecution, the crime happened on September 29, 2024, at Gaida Yan Kusa Quarters in Kano.

The Kano State Solicitor-General and prosecution counsel, Salisu Muhammad-Tahir, told the court that Aliyu and Abdulsalam planned the murder together.

He said they first poisoned Musa, who was Aliyu's employer, with rat poison before repeatedly stabbing him with knives.

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The following day, prosecutors said Sunusi accompanied Abdulsalam to buy petrol before they headed to an uncompleted building where the victim's body had been taken.

According to the prosecution, Abdulsalam then used the petrol to burn the corpse in an attempt to cover up the crime, while Sunusi, despite knowing it was a human body, failed to report the incident.

During the trial, the prosecution called five witnesses and presented several pieces of evidence, including knives, confessional statements and a video linking the defendants to the crime.

Although all three defendants pleaded not guilty, the court held that the evidence presented was enough to convict them.

Their lawyer, Mustafa Idris, asked the court to show mercy while delivering judgment.

However, Justice Adamu sentenced Aliyu and Abdulsalam to death by hanging, while Sunusi received a seven-year prison sentence.

The court also gave the convicts 90 days to appeal the judgment if they are dissatisfied with the verdict.