A Kano State High Court has sentenced Umar Auwalu and Yakubu Dayyabu to d+ath by hanging for the gruesome m¥rder of 35-year-old housewife, Fatima Abubakar, and her six children at Dorayi Chiranchi Quarters, Kano.
The court also sentenced the two men to life imprisonment with hard labour for conspiracy and armed r%bbery.
However, the third defendant, 21-year-old Isyaku Yakubu, was discharged and acquitted after the court ruled that there was insufficient credible evidence linking him to the crime.
Delivering judgment on Friday, November 6, 2026, Justice Nasiru Saminu held that the prosecution had proved the charges against Auwalu and Dayyabu beyond reasonable doubt. He described the k+llings as a horrific crime, lamenting that seven lives had been lost.
“How I wish there is a punishment heavier than this. My emphasis is not to administer vengeance but justice,” the judge said.
The prosecution told the court that the defendants attacked Fatima’s residence on January 17, 2026, armed with sticks, an iron rod and a cutlass. They stole two mobile phones and ₦200,000 before att@cking the woman and her six children.
