A 24-year-old man, Mr. Godwin Banchir, has been sentenced to death by hanging for beating his 65-year-old mother Mrs. Saratu Banchir to death.
Justice Daniel Longji of Jos High Court, Plateau State who handed down the sentence said the verdict was in accordance with the extant law which prescribes death penalty for anyone who commits murder.
“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,” said Longji.
The convict was said to have committed the crime on January 21, 2016.
He was first arraigned on June 6, 2016 and charged with culpable homicide, contrary to Section 221 of the Penal Code punishable with death upon conviction.
Banchir in his confessional statement said he returned from the farm on fateful day and found his mother sitting in the compound and when he greeted her, she ignored him.
“I got angry when she did not respond to my greetings. So I picked the stick of an axe and hit her around her 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 have been having misunderstandings with my mother each time I return from the farm; she doesn’t cook for me on time, and she always quarreled with me whenever I want to bath with the water she fetched from the stream.
“Her actions always annoy me, I did not know that she was going to die from the beating she received from me,” he said.
