A High Court sitting in Plateau State has sentenced Emmanuel Ude, a former student of Government Technical College, Bukuru, to death by hanging for the 2021 murder of his teacher, Mr. Job Dashe.
Delivering judgment on Monday, Justice Silas Bakfur found Ude guilty of culpable homicide punishable under Sections 221 and 222 of the Plateau State Penal Code. The court ruled that the prosecution had “proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.”
“The hands of the court are tied; I can only do what the law prescribes in such a situation,” Justice Bakfur said while delivering the ruling.
A tragic incident
The incident, which occurred in July 2021, sent shockwaves through the academic community in Jos South Local Government Area.
According to evidence presented in court, the then-student attacked his teacher during a routine inspection in the school’s dining hall.
Mr. Dashe, who was on duty as the Duty Master, had asked Ude to open his food flask over concerns that he had violated the school’s food policies. Ude reportedly refused and left the hall, only to return minutes later from his dormitory with a knife.
He then stabbed Mr. Dashe in the chest in full view of other students before fleeing the scene. The teacher was rushed to a hospital along Vom Road, but later pronounced dead.
Ude was arrested days later by the police. During interrogation by detectives from the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), he reportedly confessed to the attack, a confession that became a crucial piece of evidence in the lengthy legal battle that followed.
Prosecutors Nansil Mbah and Solomon Deme from the Plateau State Ministry of Justice pursued the case over a span of nearly four years. They argued that the act was deliberate, premeditated, and not provoked, urging the court to deliver the maximum sentence provided under law.
In contrast, Ude’s defense counsel, Josil Drinkat, pleaded for mercy on behalf of his client, citing remorse and youthfulness.
However, Justice Bakfur maintained that remorse alone was not sufficient in a case where the crime involved cold-blooded murder.
“The offence committed is grievous and the consequence irreversible. The law must take its course,” he concluded.
Ude was sentenced to death by hanging, with the court instructing that the execution be carried out until he is certified dead.
The judgment has reignited national conversations around school violence, student discipline, and justice in Nigeria’s legal system. While some have praised the verdict as a step toward accountability and deterrence, others have expressed sorrow over the loss of two young lives one to death, and another to the justice system.
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