A high court in Kano State, Nigeria, sitting at Miller road, Bompai, on Tuesday sentenced a Chinese national to death after finding him guilty of killing his girlfriend in September 2022. Kano Justice Commissioner Haruna Dederi has vowed to recommend execution if he unsuccessfully appeals the ruling.
Frank Geng-Quangrong, a resident at Kano Railway quarters, was convicted on one count charge bordering on culpable homicide.
Geng had invaded Ummita’s residence in September 2022 and stabbed her to death during an argument.
He fled the scene after the incident but was quickly arrested by the police and arraigned.
During his cross examination in court, he had accused the deceased lover of breaking his heart by getting married to another person while he was planning get married to her.
Geng added that when they started preparation for their wedding, he bought her wedding dresses worth N1.5 million about $1,160, sweets and other dresses they will wear on their wedding day and ‘Asoebi’ for her friends and N700,000 about $540 new notes for spraying on the wedding day.
Speaking after the trial Kano Justice Commissioner Haruna Dederi said “this is a signal that whoever is coming to a society should be prepared to comply with the extant laws of that society.”
Death sentences for capital offenses are common in Nigeria and sometimes involve foreigners. A Danish man in 2022 was sentenced to die by hanging for killing his wife and daughter.
However, executions rarely occur as they require approvals by state governors. Only two warrants for death sentences have been signed since 1999, according to Inibehe Effiong, a Nigerian human rights lawyer.
Geng has up to three months to appeal his sentence at Nigeria’s Court of Appeal
