A 19-year-old man in Kano State has been sentenced to death by hanging for killing his five-year-old nephew.

The Kano State High Court, presided by Justice Usman Naabba, sentenced Ibrahim Khalil to death for killing Ahmad Ado by sellotaping his nose and mouth.

Khalil, whose address was not provided by the court, was convicted on two-count charge bordering on kidnapping and culpable homicide.

In his judgement, Na’abba held that the prosecution had proven their case beyond reasonable doubt and therefore sentenced the convict to 14 years imprisonment for kidnapping and death by hanging for homicide.

In his earlier submission, the prosecution counsel, Lamido Sorondinki, had informed the court that the convict committed the offence sometime in 2019 at Karkasara Quarters in the Kano metropolis.

Read also: Man To Die By Hanging For Raping A 2-Year-Old To Death

Sorondinki said that the defendant kidnapped his sister’s son, Ado, sealed his mouth and nose with a tape and abducted him.

The five-year-old was later reportedly buried in a shallow grave.

“The defendant kidnapped his sister’s son, Ado, and in the process, used a seal tape to cover his nose and mouth, resulting in suffocation leading to his death,” Sorondinki told the court.

“He buried him in a shallow grave at Sabuwar Sheka, Kano,” Sorondinki told the court.

The prosecution presented three witnesses to the court and four exhibits to prove their case against the defendant.

The convict, however, denied committing the offence.

According to the prosecutor, the offence contravened sections 274 and 221 (a) of the Penal Code.

The defence counsel, Aisha Abdulkadir, presented the defendant as a lone witness and pleaded for clemency on behalf of her client.