Court remands woman accused of murdering house help

By Hannah Nathan, Warri

On Wednesday, a Kano Chief Magistrates’ Court ruled that 24-year-old Hafsat Surajo, a housewife, will be placed under detention in a correctional facility for allegedly fatally stabbing her house help, 38-year-old Nafiu Hafizu.

The defendant, who resides in Unguwa Uku Quarters in Kano, is being tried on two counts of culpable homicide and attempted suicide.

Chief Magistrate Hadiza Abdulrahman postponed the case to February 1, 2024, at which point she ordered the defendant to be placed under remand.

Earlier, Lamido Sorondinki, the prosecution’s attorney, informed the court that the defendant attempted suicide on December 20 by stabbing herself with a sharp knife and slicing her left hand in the process.

“In the process, the defendant used the said sharp knife and stabbed Nafiu on his chest and other parts of his body, which led to his death,” he said.

For the first charge, the defendant entered a guilty plea; for the second, they entered a not-guilty plea.

The Penal Code’s Sections 281 and 221 were broken by the offence.

In the meantime, Dayyabu Abdullahi, Hafsat’s spouse, Adamu Muhammad, and Nasidi Muhammad were charged with concealing the truth about Nafiu’s purported murder before the Chief Magistrates’ Court.

Three counts of criminal conspiracy, concealing a material fact, and providing false information were brought against the defendants at their arraignment.

According to Sorondinki, on December 20, the defendants plotted with Haruna Adamu, who is currently at large and hid Nafiu’s cause of death.

“The defendants misled and gave false information to the deceased family by saying he died as a result of pile surgery,” he said.

The defendants denied committing the offence.

According to the prosecutor, the offence contravened the provisions of Sections 97, 277 and 178 of the Penal Code.

“We have received a copy of the case diary from the police; we will study it and issue legal advice.

“My lord, we will furnish the defence counsel with all the facilities concerning the case,” he said.

By sections 168 and 172 of the ACJL 2019 Kano State and section 36(5) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution as amended, the defence attorneys, Rabiu Sidi and Rabiu Abdullahi, pleaded with the court to grant the defendants bail.

“All we want is justice to be done to both parties,” they said.

The magistrate postponed the case until January 8, 2024, for further consideration and directed that the offenders be placed under remand in a penitentiary facility.