The Bauchi State Ministry of Justice has arraigned a man, Umaru Jauro, before the state High Court for allegedly killing his father in a mosque in Maltawa village in the Misau Local Government Area of the state.
The court was presided over by Justice Aliyu Usman.
The chief state counsel, Hussein Magaji, while arraigning the suspect on Thursday, told the court that the accused went into a mosque and attacked his father with a cutlass on his head and back.
He added that as a result, the victim sustained serious injuries and was rushed to the General Hospital, Misau where he died the next day. This, he said, was contrary to section 221 of the Penal Code.
Magaji said he intended to bring 10 witnesses whose statements were recorded by the police during investigation
A sibling of the deceased, Umar Jatau, 70, and the accused’s brother, Ibrahim Muhammadu Jauro, 26, stated that the suspect had a problem with them and their late father.
The witnesses told the court that the deceased shared his farm in the village among his children, adding that the accused disappeared for 10 months shortly after that.
They added that Umaru suddenly appeared and came into the mosque while they were praying and stabbed their father on his head and back causing him to fall down.
The witnesses added that the youths in the area pursued and arrested the accused and then handed him over to the police.
The suspect, a father of three, in his statement to the police, said he killed his father because he separated him and his wife when he travelled out on vacation.
He further claimed that his father turned his two brothers against him saying, “We are not like we were before our father gave each one of us his farm.”
Umaru admitted that when he returned home, he took a machete and entered the mosque where his father was praying and stabbed him on his head and back.
“He fell down and I ran away but the youths pursued me and arrested me. They beat me mercilessly and injured my right fingers,” he said.
In his statement to the police, the accused said his brothers sent him away because he stole; adding that he once stole a ram from a neighbouring village.
The presiding judge asked him if he understood the charges made against him and he answered in the affirmative and pleaded not guilty.
Justice Usman adjourned the suit till August 13, 2018 for hearing. (Punch)
