Binfa Lamde, 24, has been sentenced to death by hanging for killing his stepmother Kum Zwade with a machete on April 10, 2014.
Justice A.I. Ashoms of a Plateau High Court sitting in Jos ruled on Thursday.
“This sentence is mandatory, as the law states that any person convicted of murder shall be punished with death by hanging.
“The sentence of this court upon you is that you, Binfa Lamde, will be hanged until you are dead. May God have mercy on your soul,’’ Ashoms said.
The convict was first arraigned on July 14, 2014 for culpable homicide, contrary to Section 221 of the Penal Code, punishable with death upon conviction.
In his confessional statement to the police, he admitted to the crime, claiming that the deceased was a witch.
“I was at home on the said date when I heard my stepsister, Chakwai Zuwade, screaming in her room.
“I ran to her room and she told me she was not feeling fine and needed me to take her to the hospital. We took her to the hospital with my brother, but after many tests, nothing was found.
“We later took her to a herbalist but her condition kept getting worse. My stepmother now confessed to us that she was the one that tied her own daughter through witchcraft.
“We asked her to untie her but she refused. My son was also sick at that point and I felt she was the one that tied him too. My step sister later died and I got very angry.
“I went into her room while she was sleeping and used a machete to stab her all over her head, she died instantly,” Mr Lamde said.
Defence counsel David Adudu did not contest the judgment, though he said he could appeal against the death sentence.
