The 14 year old child bride who murdered her husband may not get off easy, as a High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday rejected a motion to have murder charges against her dismissed.
The court said there was enough evidence for the case to proceed.
Tasi’u’s lawyers had argued that the state failed to establish her intent to kill Sani and questioned the reliability of a key prosecution witness.
The witness, a seven-year-old girl named Hamziyya who was identified as the sister of Sani’s other wife, testified that Tasi’u gave her money to buy the poison on April 5 2014, the day Sani died.
The defence said that relying on testimony from a minor contravened Nigeria’s Evidence Act and that the state’s case should therefore be thrown out.
Sani died after eating food that Tasi’u allegedly prepared to celebrate their marriage. Three others who reportedly ate the food also died, but prosecutors have combined the three deaths into a single murder charge.
The state has concluded its case and following Tuesday’s ruling the defence was instructed to move forward with its own evidence when the trial resumes on April 29.
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