Court sentences woman to death by hanging for throwing 8-year-old girl into well

A Kano State High Court has sentenced a housewife, Fadila Adamu, to death by hanging for kidnapping and throwing an eight-year-old girl into a well.

Adamu was convicted of kidnapping and culpable homicide.

Delivering judgement on Friday, March 28, 2025, Justice Yusuf Muhammad-Ubale declared that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced the defendant to death by hanging.

“I hereby sentence the defendant to death by hanging for kidnapping and throwing the victim into a well which caused her death” the judge declared.

The prosecution counsel, Lamido Abba-Sorondinki, told the court that the woman committed the offence at Tudun Wada Quarters in Kano on July 14, 2019.

He said that at about 4:45 p.m., the defendant kidnapped the 8-year-old girl and took her to her house.

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Abba-Sorondinki said: “The defendant told her sister that the deceased was the daughter of her friend, whose mother had travelled to Ghana, and asked her to keep the child until she returned.

“On July 17, 2019, at about 6:30 p.m., the defendant caused the death of the minor when she threw her into a deep well situated in the Tukuntawa area of Kano.”

Abba-Sorondinki presented seven witnesses including the defendants’ statements and a medical report confirming the victim’s death.

The woman denied committing the offence.

The prosecution said the offence contravened Sections 274(b) and 221(a) of the Penal Code.

The defence counsel, Zulaihat Tata, presented four witnesses, including the defendant, to testify in her defense.

The Star