A Jos High Court presided over by Chief Judge Justice David Mann has condemned Thomas Danboyi and Pam Lang to death by hanging for the brutal killing of farmer Chung Bot in 2010. The verdict delivered Wednesday marks the climax of a 14-year legal battle stemming from the agricultural dispute in Tahai Gyel Bukuru, Jos South LGA.
Court records reveal the victim and his family were cultivating their farmland on April 26, 2010 when the convicted pair – accompanied by still-at-large accomplices – launched the fatal attack. Prosecutors led by Plateau’s Attorney General P.A. Daffi proved through eyewitness accounts and forensic evidence that Danboyi restrained Bot while Lang bludgeoned him with a wooden stick. The critically injured farmer later died at Plateau Hospital Jos during treatment.
Justice Mann dismissed defense counsels’ plea for leniency regarding the homicide charge, noting the mandatory death sentence under the applicable 1963 Penal Code. While granting a three-year prison term for the secondary conspiracy charge, the judge emphasized the incontrovertible nature of the evidence: “The prosecution established beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants intentionally conspired to cause the victim’s death.”
The judgment brings partial closure to a case that exposed recurring tensions over land access in Plateau’s farming communities. With appeals likely to follow, the case joins Nigeria’s growing list of capital punishment verdicts – 336 recorded in 2023 according to Amnesty International – even as global calls mount for abolition of the death penalty.
Local human rights monitors have called for psychosocial support for Bot’s family while urging authorities to intensify efforts in apprehending the remaining fugitive suspects connected to the deadly attack. The Plateau State Ministry of Justice maintains the verdict demonstrates its commitment to addressing violent crimes amid the region’s complex security challenges.
