For many families of murder victims in Northern Nigeria, a conviction is often seen as the end of a painful legal journey. In reality, it is frequently only the beginning of another, longer ordeal.
Across the region, many convicted murderers remain on death row years—and in some cases decades—after courts sentenced them to death. Although judges pronounce capital punishment, executions have become extremely rare, leaving victims’ families waiting indefinitely for justice while convicts remain in legal limbo.
Since the execution of Sani Rodi in Katsina in 2002—the first and last execution carried out under the then newly introduced Sharia legal system in Northern Nigeria—no convicted murderer in the region is publicly known to have been executed despite numerous death sentences handed down by courts.
WikkiTimes review of selected murder cases across Northern Nigeria reveals a justice system constrained by prolonged appeals, executive inaction, constitutional safeguards and the near-total suspension of executions.
The legal hurdle
Under Nigerian law, a death sentence does not automatically translate into execution.
A person sentenced to death has the constitutional right to appeal from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and ultimately to the Supreme Court. Where those appeals are exhausted and the conviction affirmed, the sentence still cannot be carried out until the appropriate executive authority signs a death warrant.
For convictions obtained under state laws, that authority is the governor of the state. For convictions arising from the Federal Capital Territory, the President exercises similar powers.
Human rights organisations have consistently opposed executions, while successive administrations have been reluctant to sign death warrants, leaving hundreds of inmates on death row nationwide.
Fresh promises after Kano murder
The debate resurfaced in January 2026 after the gruesome killing of a woman and her six children in Dorayi-Chiranchi, Kano State.
The incident shocked Nigerians which prompted Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf to promise a swift investigation, speedy prosecution and justice for the victims.
The governor also declared that anyone convicted would face the full weight of the law and said he would not hesitate to sign death warrants once due process had been completed.
His comments echoed similar assurances made by previous governors after other high-profile murders.
Hanifa Abubakar: A promise still waiting
Perhaps no murder case generated more public outrage in recent years than the killing of five-year-old Hanifa Abubakar.
In December 2021, Hanifa was kidnapped by her school proprietor, Abdulmalik Tanko, who later poisoned, dismembered and buried her body.
Following a widely publicised trial, the Kano State High Court convicted Tanko and his accomplice, Hashimu Isyaku, sentencing both men to death by hanging in July 2022.
Then Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had promised that justice would be served and assured the public that those responsible would face execution if convicted.
Nearly four years later, however, both men remain on death row.
Available court records indicate that the appellate process has not been fully exhausted, preventing any execution from taking place.
Sani Rodi: The only execution
Northern Nigeria’s only publicly documented execution under the modern Sharia criminal justice system occurred in 2002.
Sani Rodi was convicted by a Katsina State Sharia court for murdering Zainab Hamza and her two children.
After unsuccessfully appealing through the Sharia appellate courts, his conviction was affirmed and he was executed by hanging.
More than two decades later, no similar execution has been publicly recorded despite numerous death sentences.
The Apo Six case
In March 2017, the FCT High Court sentenced two police officers—Ezekiel Acheneche and Emmanuel Baba—to death for the extra-judicial killing of six traders popularly known as the Apo Six.
The killings occurred in June 2005 after the victims were falsely accused of being armed robbers.
Justice Ishaq Bello convicted the two officers after finding overwhelming evidence linking them to the killings, while another officer, Danjuma Ibrahim, was acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence.
Following the judgment, the convicts were transferred to Kuje Custodial Centre.
In 2025, Emmanuel Baba’s sentence was reportedly commuted to life imprisonment during a presidential clemency exercise, while Acheneche remains on death row pending further judicial or executive action.
Maryam Sanda
Maryam Sanda’s case remains one of Nigeria’s most closely watched homicide trials.
She was convicted for the 2017 killing of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, following a domestic dispute in Abuja.
The FCT High Court sentenced her to death in January 2020.
The Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction before the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the judgment in 2022, exhausting all judicial avenues available to her.
Despite the finality of the judgment, Sanda remains on death row because no execution warrant has been issued.
Her case again attracted national attention in 2025 after reports emerged that she had been considered for presidential clemency, although the proposal was reportedly withdrawn following public criticism.
Abdulazeez Ali
In Kaduna State, police officer Abdulazeez Ali was prosecuted for fatally shooting Safiya Abubakar Sabo in 2020.
Although the High Court initially convicted him of a lesser offence carrying a 10-year prison sentence, the Kaduna State Government appealed.
In January 2025, the Court of Appeal overturned that decision, convicted him of culpable homicide punishable by death and sentenced him to death.
There is no publicly available record showing that the Supreme Court has determined any further appeal.
Umar Yakubu
Umar Yakubu, popularly known as Baban Mage, was sentenced to death after stabbing Ibrahim Adam Khalil during an argument over a debt in Kano in 2018.
The Kano State High Court convicted him in 2019.
The Court of Appeal subsequently affirmed both his conviction and death sentence.
There is no publicly available evidence indicating that the matter has been determined by the Supreme Court.
Frank Geng-Quangrong
Chinese national Frank Geng-Quangrong was convicted in March 2024 for murdering his girlfriend, Ummukulthum Sani, in Kano.
The prosecution established that he fatally attacked her before fleeing the scene.
Justice Sanusi Ado Ma’aji rejected his claim of self-defence and sentenced him to death by hanging.
Immediately after the judgment, his lawyer announced plans to appeal.
However, no publicly reported Court of Appeal or Supreme Court judgment has been delivered.
Why executions remain rare
Legal experts say the lengthy appeals process forms only part of the explanation.
Successive governors have shown reluctance to sign death warrants, partly because of growing concerns over wrongful convictions, Nigeria’s international human rights obligations and increasing calls for abolition of capital punishment.
Human rights organisations have repeatedly urged authorities to commute death sentences to life imprisonment, arguing that irreversible judicial errors remain possible.
Supporters of capital punishment, however, argue that prolonged delays undermine deterrence, deny victims’ families closure and weaken public confidence in the criminal justice system.
Justice delayed
The cases examined in this report represent only a fraction of murder convictions across Northern Nigeria.
Many other condemned inmates remain on death row at different stages of appeal, executive consideration or prolonged administrative delay.
Their cases illustrate a broader question confronting Nigeria’s criminal justice system: when courts pronounce the ultimate punishment but governments rarely enforce it, what becomes of justice for victims, their families and society itself?
As murder trials continue to end in death sentences that are seldom carried out, the gap between judicial pronouncement and executive implementation continues to widen, leaving both convicts and victims’ families suspended in an uncertain search for finality.
