In Adamawa, Nigeria, A Farmer Is Sentenced To Death For Defending Himself Against A Herder
Kabiru Zelani, a rice farmer from Nigeria, has been condemned to death by hanging for allegedly overwhelming his assailant, who is believed to be a herder.
In Adamawa State, he had overpowered the herder, who had been identified as Ardo Ali, and stabbed him to death.
Fulani herdsmen have been renowned for raiding farmlands with their livestock and damaging crops, and the President Muhammadu Buhari-led regime is largely perceived as giving support for them.
During an invasion of his farms on October 18, 2015 in the state, Zelani, 22, is said to have used his attacker's assault dagger to stab him to death with his own assault dagger.
The defendant, who has been on trial for more than five years, was sentenced to death on Tuesday and will be hanged for fatally stabbing an encroaching herder, Ali, in the back.
After being prosecuted and found guilty of culpable homicide punishable by death in violation of Section 221(b) of the state penal code law, Zelani was sentenced to death by Justice Fatimah Ahmed Tafida of the High Court IV in Yola, the state capital.
After finding that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, the judge ruled that "the court hereby sentences you, Kabiru Zelani, to execution by hanging until you are certified dead by a medical doctor."
Ali was claimed to have been stabbed to death by Zelani, a resident of Leme village in the Gombi local government region, after a quarrel over the devastation of his (Zelani's) rice plantation, according to reports.
Zelani had told what happened "On the 18th of October, 2015, as I was working on my rice field, the deceased came by and placed his animals on my rice farm. When I noticed that the animals were damaging the crops, I approached the herder, who grew enraged as a result of my actions.
"The herder struck me with his cutlass on my right hand, leaving a scar that indicated a serious injury, and he also pulled out his knife and attempted to stab me, but I (Zelani) knocked him to the ground." "The herder used his cutlass and struck me on my right hand, leaving a scar that indicated a serious injury."
After more than 5 years of deliberation, the 22-year-old farmer was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for his courage in defending himself and his farm's harvest.
Source: Sahara reporters