A Borno State High Court, sitting in Maiduguri, has sentenced a woman, Fatima Abubakar, to life imprisonment for k!lling her husband, Goni Abba, by poisoning his drinking water.
LIB reported that Fatima told newsmen that she k!lled her husband because she was tired of the marriage and hates when any man comes near her.
Justice A. B. Kumalia delivered the judgment on after finding the accused guilty of culpable homicide, Daily Trust reported on Friday, November 28, 2025.
Fatima was charged with administering rat poison to her husband on October 19, 2022, after telling him it was a traditional remedy for rheumatism.
He became ill soon after consuming the substance and later died at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
Although Fatima initially pleaded guilty during her arraignment, the court entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf because the charge carried a capital punishment.
During the trial, the prosecution called seven witnesses, including medical personnel who confirmed the cause of d3ath.
The court also admitted Fatima’s confessional statements, in which she admitted buying the poison at Monday Market and deliberately mixing it into her husband’s water.
The judge held that the prosecution proved all three elements required for culpable homicide: that a death occurred, it was caused by the accused, and it was intentional.
Her attempt to rely on claims of being possessed by evil spirits was dismissed, as there was no medical evidence to support it.
Justice Kumalia convicted her under Section 224 of the Penal Code, noting that although the original charge under Section 221 attracted the d3ath penalty, the conviction under Section 224 amounted to significant mitigation.
In her plea for mercy, Fatima said she was a mother of two and remorseful.
Her counsel also urged the court to consider that she was a first-time offender.
She was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
Speaking with newsmen after her arrest, Fatima said she run to her parents to demand a divorce, but they always sent her back to the house.
“I never wanted the marriage. Goni was my second husband; I got separated from my first husband because I hate marriage,” she said.
“Anytime I wake up with the fact that I man married, it pisses me off.
“At some point, two months after I gave birth to my child, I ran away and slept in an uncompleted building for about two weeks.
“I later returned to my husband’s house. Not that he doesn’t treat me well; we are also not quarrelling.
“We are two in the household, I am his second wife and I have been married to him since 2021.
“But I just hate when any man comes near me. I don’t know what is wrong with me. Even now that I am speaking to you, I don’t really feel that I was the one who k!lled him.”
