Supreme Court sentences a PHCN staff to death by hanging

The Supreme Court on Wednesday approved the death by hanging of a security guard, Stephen Haruna working with the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) over his alleged murder of an Assistant General Manager in the Legal department of the same company, Sussana Igwe.

Following police investigations, Mr Haruna admitted killing her boss, Ms Igwe and was consequently charged with murder before an Abuja High Court.
The court found him guilty and sentenced him to death.



Supreme Court sentences a PHCN staff to death by hanging over his alleged involvement in the murder of an Assistant General Manager in the Legal department of the same company

He, however, challenged the judgment on appeal. When the Court of Appeal affirmed the High court’s decision he took the matter to the Supreme Court.
Justice Suleiman Galadima who wrote the lead judgment that was concurred by four other justices, said there was overwhelming evidence to uphold the conviction of Mr Haruna.

”In the face of overwhelming evidence against the appellant, I cannot upturn the concurrent findings of the trial court and the Court of Appeal, when the appellant has failed to demonstrate that the said concurrent findings were perverse and could not be supported, having regard to the evidence adduced by the Prosecutor,” Justice Galadima said.

He added that one of Mr Haruna’s girlfriends, Mary Jimoh, testified that the money he stole from Ms Igwe was deposited with her.

Although, the convict made three confessional statements to the police in the course of investigations, he later retracted one of them.

The justice held that even if the third statement was discountenanced, Haruna could still be and was rightly convicted. According to him, the appellant’s confessional statement was corroborated by the discovery of stolen money he took to his girlfriend at Kubwa, a suburb of Abuja for safe keep.