Billy Graham Abel, Yola
A state high court in Yola, Adamawa State, has condemned eight armed robbers to death by hanging.
The convicts were found guilty on nine counts, according to the presiding judge, Justice Abdulaziz Waziri, of High Court 3, Yola, who said the judgement followed a thorough review of the statements of both the prosecuting and defense counsel.
He said the presentations of the counsel and witnesses proved beyond any doubt that the suspects were guilty of the charges against them.
He, therefore, pronounced death by hanging against them but explained that they had 90 days to make an appeal against the judgement.
The condemned robbers, after the verdict, became violent and pounced on two journalists from the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the Adamawa State Television (ATV) who were recording the proceedings.
The journalists were cameramen filming the convicts who were handcuffed in pairs but who managed to get hold of pebbles around the court premises to inflict injuries on the cameramen.
The cameramen and other bystanders within the court premises were saved from further harm by prison officials drafted to provide security.
The convicted eight included Aliyu Ardo, Sadiq Mijinyawa, Shaibu Abubakar, and Sani Musa.
The others were Kabiru Abdullahi, Saidu Abubakar, Umar Mohammed and Sanusi Ibrahim.
Reacting to the incident, the Adamawa State controller of prisons, Umar Audu, who spoke on the violence unleashed by the convicts, said the authorities made adequate preparations against such acts by providing 10 prison personnel to take them to court but the actions of the convicts came as a surprise as such a thing had never happened anywhere in the state before.
He explained that the convicts who had since been remanded in prison, had shown remorse for their action.