Court sentences 2 to death for murder of ex-Katsina commissioner

A Katsina State High Court has sentenced two men, Shamsu Lawal and Tasi’u Rabi’u, to death for the 2021 murder of former Commissioner for Science and Technology, Rabe Nasir.

The court found Lawal, a former security guard, and Rabi’u, Nasir’s cook, guilty of conspiring to poison their employer after failed robbery attempts.

An autopsy confirmed the presence of poison in Nasir’s body.

Justice Ibrahim Mashi handed down the death penalty to Lawal and Rabi’u, while Sani Sa’adu, another former guard, received a five-year jail term for withholding information about the crime.

Gift Bako, a female suspect, was discharged and acquitted due to insufficient evidence linking her to the incident.

Rabe Nasir served under former Governor Aminu Masari and previously represented Mani and Bindawa Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives in 2003.

The convicts’ lawyer pleaded for leniency, citing family responsibilities and dependents, but the court upheld the death penalty.

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