Posted by By ANDY ASEMOTA, Katsina. on
A High Court in Katsina sentenced to death on Monday a Divisional Police Officer (DPO), who shot his deputy to death with an AK 47 rifle.
A High Court in Katsina sentenced to death on Monday a Divisional Police Officer (DPO), who shot his deputy to death with an AK 47 rifle.
The convict, Police Superintendent Dominic Alapa, committed the murder at about 9.45am on April 3, 2004 at Matazu Divisional Police Station in Katsina State police command.
He shot Superintendent Yohanua Dyeri, the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) of the station rapidly, releasing eight out of the 30 rounds of ammunition in his rifle's magazine into the deceased's abdomen at a short range.
Dominic showed no regret after the court's verdict but his wife of 30 years wept bitterly after justice Yusuf Abdullahi condemned the father of seven children to death by hanging.
As Dominic was being led away from the court by prison officials, he tried in vain to comfort his wife but the woman refused to be consoled.
Once she was outside the court, the middle age women snapped her head tie away and threw her self on the floor weeping profusely for her heart throb.
The convict who pleaded not guilty to the charge of culpable homicide preferred against him called three witnesses while the prosecution called seven witnesses and tendered at least evidence.
Dominic told the court that he was of unsound mind when he shot Dyeri.
Similarly his counsel, Uyi Igunma, urged the court to uphold the defence of insanity because the one time police officer was suffering from chronic mental illness.
Testifying for her husband, Mrs. Dominic said the man had been showing evidence of abnormality since he was involved in an auto crash in 1998.
But the state counsel, Abu Umar, however, countered the argument, saying the convict had served in at least four different police stations in the state as a DPO between 2002 and 2004.
Abu Umar stressed that the accused was quite sane when he committed the act.
He recalled that the convict betrayed his motive for killing the DCO in his confessional statement when he claimed that the DCO showed no regard for his person since he assumed duty at Matazu.
In his judgment, Justice Abdullahi said the action of the DPO was not synonymous to what a person of an unsound mind would do.
The court discountenanced the defense of insanity and found him guilty.
Justice Abdullahi he said the court had no alternative than to sentence the police officer to death by hanging despite the plea of defense counsel for the mitigation of the sentence.