Sani Yakubu Rodi

Who was Sani Yakubu Rodi?

Sani Yakubu Rodi was the first prisoner to be executed under state-level Sharia law in Nigeria. He was hanged in a prison in Katsina State on January 3, 2002, for the 2001 fatal stabbing of a woman and her two children; however, he did not have legal representation at his trial, and had pleaded not guilty at his initial hearing, but had changed to a guilty plea at a later hearing, after which he was sentenced to death by hanging.

So far, Rodi's execution is the first and only execution to have taken place under sharia in Nigeria.