TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR MURDER IN PLATEAU
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Thomas Danboyi and Pam Lang were sentenced to death by hanging by a Plateau State High Court on Wednesday for their participation in the murder of a Chung Bot.
At the High Court in Jos on Wednesday, state Chief Judge Justice David Gwong Mann gave the verdict.
The court determined that the defendants in State vs. Thomas Danboyi & Pam Lang (Charge No. PLD/J112C/2010) were convicted of culpable homicide and criminal conspiracy.
He said that the Penal Code Law of Northern Nigeria, 1963, which applied to Plateau State at the time, punished the offenses.
P.A. Daffi, the Plateau State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, and a group of attorneys led the prosecution in claiming that the crime took place at Tahai Gyel Bukuru in the Jos South Local Government Area on April 26, 2010.
The prosecution informed the court that Chung Bot, the victim, and his family had gone to cultivate on their farm in Ta Hei, Gyel, when they were attacked by the accused along with other people (who are currently at large).
Evidence produced in court showed that while the second accused, Pam Lang, repeatedly beat Bot on the head with a stick, the first accused, Thomas Danboyi, detained the victim by keeping his hands behind his back.
After being taken to the Plateau Hospital in Jos, the victim reportedly passed away from his wounds while undergoing treatment.
Both defendants were convicted after the court deemed them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to Justice Mann, the evidence before the court was “overwhelming” and that the prosecution through its witnesses and Exhibits tendered “established, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the defendants conspired to commit this crime and intentionally caused the death of the victim.”
Following their conviction, both of their attorneys urged the court to have mercy while enforcing the law, citing the convicts’ good behavior during the trial and their status as responsible family men.
By imposing a three-year prison sentence, Justice Mann merely used his discretion in relation to the criminal conspiracy.
However, because he lacked the authority to lower the penalty, Justice Mann imposed the mandatory death penalty for the crime of culpable homicide.
Given the length of time since the crime was committed in 2010, the case has garnered a lot of attention.
The ruling reaffirms the judiciary’s dedication to ensuring justice is done and is interpreted by the public in Plateau State as a strong message against violent crimes and the use of self-help.
Convicts still have the option to challenge the verdict to the Supreme Court or the Court of challenge, if applicable, according to legal experts. However, the sentence will be administered in accordance with the law unless a higher court reverses the decision.
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