The Katsina State High Court on Wednesday sentenced two men to death for the 2021 murder of former Commissioner for Science and Technology, Rabe Nasir.

Naijaonpoint report that the Presiding Judge, Justice Ibrahim Mashi, of High Court 9, found Shamsu Lawal, a former guard to the deceased, and Tasi’u Rabi’u, his cook, guilty of poisoning the ex-commissioner, resulting in his death.

According to the prosecution, the convicts resorted to poisoning Nasir after failed attempts to rob him. A joint autopsy conducted by the police and medical experts confirmed the presence of poison in the former commissioner’s body.

Justice Mashi also sentenced another ex-guard, Sani Sa’adu, to five years in prison for concealing the crime. However, a female suspect, Gift Bako, was discharged and acquitted due to insufficient evidence linking her to the murder.

Counsel to the convicts, Ahmad Murtala Kankia, appealed for leniency, stating, “The convicts have families and dependents,” but the court upheld the death sentence.

The late Rabe Nasir served as Katsina State Commissioner for Science and Technology during the administration of former Governor Aminu Masari. He was also a former federal legislator representing Mani and Bindawa local governments in 2003.

In other news, over 150 residents of Zamfara State, abducted by armed bandits, have appeared in a viral video pleading with the state government to engage in peace talks with their captors.

The footage, shared via TikTok by a notorious bandit leader, Ibrahim Musa (@Ibrahim.Musa99), showed men, women, and children from communities including Cogon Daji, Danabuce, Kuliya, Bayawa, Magulu, and Gidan Garduwa.

Speaking in Hausa, one of the victims described dire conditions in the forest hideout where they have been held for weeks.