Court Sentences 16-Year-Old to Life Imprisonment for Killing FUT Lecturer at 14

A Minna High Court has sentenced 16-year-old Joy Afekafe to life imprisonment for the 2023 murder of Dr. (Mrs.) Funmilayo Sherifat Adefolalu, a lecturer at the Federal University of Technology (FUT) Minna. Afekafe committed the crime at the age of 14, alongside two accomplices who remain at large.

Delivering the judgment on Wednesday, Justice Mohammed Adishetu Mohammed of High Court No. 4 ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.

“The death of Dr. Mrs. Funmilayo Sherifat Adefolalu was caused by the convict and her friends, now at large, when they used knives to stab her multiple times and struck her with a wooden stool, intending to kill her,” the judge said.

Justice Mohammed found Afekafe guilty of culpable homicide punishable with death under Section 221 of the Penal Code, Laws of Niger State, 1989, and armed robbery. However, due to her age at the time of the crime, the death penalty was substituted with a life sentence, in line with the law’s provision for minors.

“Although she is now 16 years old, the law prohibits the death penalty for persons under 18 at the time of committing such an offence. Therefore, she is sentenced to life imprisonment and an additional 10 years for armed robbery,” the judge stated.

According to the Niger State Police Command, Afekafe was arrested after a thorough investigation linked her to the murder, committed alongside her classmates, Walex and Smart, who are currently on the run.

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, said operatives from the Bosso Division responded to a distress call and found the lecturer’s body at her residence. Two blood-stained knives suspected to have been used in the attack were recovered at the scene.

During police interrogation, Afekafe confessed to conspiring with her friends to attack the lecturer. She revealed that she had worked as a housemaid for the deceased for about three weeks before being dismissed due to misconduct. In retaliation, she teamed up with her classmates to carry out the fatal assault.

“She confessed that after she was laid off, she discussed the incident with her friends and together they planned and executed the attack,” DSP Abiodun said.

The case has sparked widespread debate about juvenile justice, violent crime among minors, and the increasing role of peer influence in youth-related crimes.

Legal experts have commended the court for adhering to the law while ensuring that justice was served, calling it a tragic but necessary judgment to deter similar crimes in the future.