COURT REMANDS 3 `GOOD SAMARITANS’ OVER ALLEGED MURDER

A Jos High Court has remanded three men – Tasiu Mohammed, 21, Saidu Mohammed, 19, and Umar Shehu, 23 – in Jos prison, over the alleged murder of their `guest'.

The suspects, all of Bukuru, in Jos, who are facing a four-count charge of conspiracy, robbery, theft and culpable homicide, were also alleged to have stolen their victim's money after killing him.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Justice Rifkatu Sha ordered the remand after the prosecutor, Mr J. I. Mantu, prayed the court for time to enable the ministry of justice take over the matter from the police.

Mantu, of the Plateau Ministry of Justice, told the court that he had been instructed by the Attorney General (AG) of the State, to take over the matter, relying on section 211 of the 1999 constitution, which gave power to the AG to institute criminal proceedings in any court.

Sha, after listening to his plea, ordered the remand of the accused persons and adjourned the matter to May 23, for definite hearing, while the case file was handed over to the AG.

NAN reports that the accused persons were first arraigned on Feb. 13., 2017 and had since pleaded not guilty to the crime.

The police prosecutor, Mr O. S. Osho, had told the court that the accused persons committed the crime on Sept. 23 2016, at about 8 p.m. in Clark Quarters, Bukuru, Jos.

Osho, during the arraignment, told the court that the accused persons had told the police in a confessional statement that they killed the deceased, who approached them for help.

In the statement, the accused persons were quoted as saying that the deceased, who came into Jos at about 7 p.m. on the said date, approached them to direct him to where he could lodge for the night, and continue his journey the mext day.

The statement indicated that the accused persons offered to assist, but diverted the victim to an uncompleted building and killed him, when they realised that he had money on him.

The prosecutor alleged that after killing their victim, the trio dumped his body in a well cited at the uncompleted building, and made away with his money.

Osho further quoted the accused as admitting that luck, however, ran out on them when a woman, resident in the quarters, heard screams emanating from the building, and decided to check.

The accused persons, according to the statement, ran out of the building on sighting the woman, but she went in and saw splashes of blood around the well and decided to check further.

"The curious woman saw a corpse of the unknown man dumped in the well and raised an alarm.

"The matter was promptly reported to the community head and the woman mentioned the names of the persons she had met fleeing from the scene."

The prosecutor said that the identity of the deceased was still unknown as no form of identification was found on him, while his corpse was not claimed by any one.

Another twist was also introduced into the matter when the prosecutor alleged that the first accused, Tasiu Mohammed, had committed a similar crime sometime in 2014, when he was 18 years old.

Osho told the court that Mohammed was tried as a juvenile and was found guilty and convicted for murder.

He said that Mohammed, however, escaped from the juvenile home after some months and relocated to Abuja and had just relocated back to Jos, when he committed the same crime and was re-arrested.

The prosecutor stated that the trio's action contravened the provision of section 221 of the Penal Code and was punishable with death, on conviction.