A Kaduna State High Court has sentenced Victor Solomon, popularly known as Zidane, to death by hanging after finding him guilty of murder.
According to reports, Zidane was first arrested in 2018 under the administration of former Governor Nasir El-Rufai. His arrest followed violent attacks on the Adara community, which supporters say he was helping to defend against armed Fulani assailants.
Zidane was subsequently charged with murder in two separate state high courts over the same incident. While one of the courts acquitted him of the charge, the second court proceeded with the case and has now handed down a death sentence.
The development has raised serious legal and human rights concerns, with questions being asked about why identical charges were filed in two different state high courts and how conflicting judgments emerged from the same set of facts.
Observers and rights advocates have described the case as yet another example of self-defence being criminalised in Nigeria, particularly in conflict-prone communities facing repeated attacks.
In October 2025, this reporter visited Zidane at the Kaduna Correctional Centre, where he expressed confidence that the second court would follow the earlier acquittal. He reportedly believed that the principle of double jeopardy and judicial consistency would prevail.
That expectation, however, has not materialised. The latest ruling has sparked renewed criticism of the justice system, with allegations that religious and ethnic considerations sometimes influence judicial outcomes. These claims, though strongly denied by judicial authorities in the past, continue to trail high-profile cases linked to communal violence.
As reactions continue to pour in, legal experts say the case is likely to proceed to the appellate courts, where the conflicting judgments and the circumstances surrounding the trial will come under closer scrutiny.
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