A 49-year-old Chinese businessman accused of fatally stabbing his Nigerian girlfriend has been sentenced to death by a court in the West African nation after he was found guilty of the crime. According to BBC, the September 2022 incident occurred in the state of Kano.
The Chinese man, identified as Frank Geng Quarong, is said to have stabbed his girlfriend Ummu Kulthum Sani multiple times after he made his way into her room. The death row prisoner has 90 days to appeal the Kano court’s decision. Quarong before the fatal incident was an employee at a textiles company in the West African nation.
In an interview with the news outlet, Ummu’s brother, Sadiq Sani, said that his sister and Quarong started dating in 2022 after the pair crossed paths at a mall. A family friend, Ahmad Abdullahi, also recalled what he saw when he went to the family home in the wake of the killing.
Abdullahi said he noticed that “a lot of people had gathered outside the house.” “That was when we knew something bad had happened. Geng was her boyfriend and had good relations with her family prior to that day,” he added.
“Before the incident they were having issues as she was no longer interested and he didn’t want to let go.”
Neighbors also said Quarong entered the victim’s family home on the night of the fatal incident after banging on their gate. He subsequently shoved Sani’s mother after she opened the gate and made his way to his girlfriend’s room. He also locked the door before fatally stabbing the victim.
Sani’s family attempted to help her after hearing the victim screaming and crying. But she was found with multiple stab wounds after the door was ultimately broken, BBC reported. Sani, who was an agriculture undergraduate, succumbed to her injuries at a hospital.
During the trial, Quarong told the court that he did not intentionally kill the victim, Premium Times reported. The 49-year-old convict claimed that he “stabbed her in self-defense after she grabbed my testes.”
But the victim’s brother welcomed the punishment the court handed to Quarong, telling BBC that anyone found guilty of taking someone’s life also deserves to suffer the same fate. “We thank God for showing us this day… I pray that my sister’s soul continues to rest in peace,” Sadiq said.
Though death sentences are allowed in Nigeria, the punishment is hardly executed. Presently, there are over 3,400 death row inmates in Nigeria. In 2013, The Guardian reported that four inmates were hanged at a prison in Benin City, Edo state. That was the West African nation’s first executions since 2006. Three other inmates were also executed in 2016, per reports.
