Nigeria, Dec. 10 -- A police sergeant, Ruya Auta, has been sentenced to death for the shooting of 20-year-old University of Jos student, Rinji "Bobo" Bala.

The verdict, delivered five years after the incident, was handed down by the Plateau State Chief Judge. David Mann, on Tuesday.

The ruling is one of the rare cases in Nigeria where a police officer has been held accountable for an extrajudicial killing.

The case traces back to the night of 12 May 2020, when Mr Auta, part of a joint security patrol enforcing COVID-19 lockdown rules in Jos, stopped Mr Rinji and two friends near Hwolshe in Jos.

Court records and witness testimonies indicate that the officers searched the young men, found nothing incriminating, but accused them of viol...