By Paul Joseph
A Kano State High Court has sentenced two men to death by hanging for the gruesome killing of a woman, Fatima Abubakar, and her six children in Dorayi Chiranci, Kano State.
The judgment was delivered on Friday, November 6, 2026, by Justice Nasiru Saminu of High Court No. 11, after the defendants were found guilty on seven counts of culpable homicide linked to the January 17, 2026 attack.
The court also handed the two convicts life imprisonment with hard labour for armed robbery.
However, a third defendant, Isiyaku Abdul’azeez, popularly known as Chebe, was discharged and acquitted after the court ruled that the prosecution failed to establish his involvement in the murder and conspiracy charges.
Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Abdulkarim Kabir Maude, who led the prosecution, described the killings as one of the darkest incidents in the state’s history.
He said the conviction followed the presentation of eight prosecution witnesses, 30 exhibits and evidence from the defence.
Maude maintained that the judgment had established the involvement of the two convicts in the killings and armed robbery.
He also expressed the state government’s readiness to pursue the implementation of the death sentence, subject to the legal process and the convicts’ right of appeal.
The Attorney General commended the police for their investigation and officials of the Ministry of Justice for their contributions to securing the convictions.
On the acquitted defendant, Maude disclosed that Abdul’azeez was still facing two separate cases, with judgments expected in due course.
Earlier, Justice Saminu stressed the gravity of the offences, noting that the scale of the killings warranted the harshest punishment under the law.
The case originated from an attack on the family home in Dorayi Chiranci on January 17, 2026, during which Fatima Abubakar and her six children were killed, while her husband, Haruna Bashir, survived.
The prosecution was handled by the Attorney General and Barrister Salisu Muhammad Tahir, while J. I. Musa and A. I. Baba represented the defendants.
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