The Court of Appeal has affirmed the death sentence imposed on a Kebbi State woman, Farida Abubakar, for the murder of her ex-husband, Chief Magistrate Attahiru Muhammad-Ibrahim.

In a unanimous judgment on Monday in appeal No. CA/S/75C/2025, a three-member panel of the appellate court sitting in Sokoto, led by Justice Tunde Awotoye, dismissed her appeal and upheld the conviction and sentence handed down by the Kebbi State High Court on June 3, 2024.

Delivering judgment, the court held that Abubakar’s appeal lacks merit and affirmed that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, including the trial court’s reliance on the doctrine of last seen and other evidence on record.

At the trial, the prosecution, led by Barrister Zainab Muhammad Jabbo of the Kebbi State Ministry of Justice, called 12 witnesses and tendered multiple exhibits, including Abubakar’s extra-judicial statement and circumstantial evidence linking her to the killing of her former husband.

According to court records, the evidence showed that the victim was stabbed in the abdomen, neck and left arm with a sharp object, resulting in his death on the night of August 25, 2022.

While the appellate court noted that Abubakar’s extra-judicial statements were not treated as confessions, it held that all essential elements of the offence were established, justifying the death sentence by hanging under Section 191(b) of the Kebbi State Penal Code.

The court also upheld a seven-year prison term under Section 224(1) for causing grievous hurt.

Abubakar, who was represented by A. N. Salau, Esq., has filed a further appeal at the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the appellate court’s decision.

The case reflects the judiciary’s stance on violent crime and the rigorous application of evidential standards in serious criminal matters across Nigeria’s legal system.