A coalition of youth groups drawn from the Middle Belt Youth Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth wing, Afenifere Youth and PANDEF Youth has called for an independent review of the death sentence handed to Mr. Victor Solomon, popularly known as “Zidane,” describing the case as a critical test of justice and human rights in Nigeria.
The groups made the call during an international press conference held in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, on Thursday under the theme: “A Life Hangs in the Balance: The Case of Victor Solomon and the Imperative of Justice in Southern Kaduna.”
Addressing journalists, the Kaduna State Chairman of Middle Belt Youth Forum, Comrade Samuel Wuya, said it was not acting as a political or ethnic pressure group but as “citizens of conscience” concerned about fairness, due process and the sanctity of human life.
Victor Solomon, a member of the Adara community in Southern Kaduna, was sentenced to death by hanging by a Kaduna State High Court on January 6, 2026, over charges linked to violent communal clashes in Kajuru Local Government Area.
The coalition noted that Solomon had earlier been discharged and acquitted in a separate case involving criminal conspiracy and attempted culpable homicide on May 21, 2024, but was later convicted in another case bordering on conspiracy, grievous harm and culpable homicide.
According to the groups, although the Kaduna State Government, through the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. James Kanyip, maintained that the two cases were distinct and that due process was followed, concerns still remained over the broader context of the trial and the communal crisis in Southern Kaduna.
They argued that Southern Kaduna had endured years of deadly violence, displacement and unresolved attacks on indigenous communities, warning that any death sentence arising from such a conflict deserved “the highest standards of scrutiny and transparency.”
The coalition called on Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State to exercise his constitutional powers to grant a stay of execution pending an independent review of the case.
They also urged the Nigerian judiciary to ensure fairness in the appellate process and facilitate an independent assessment of the trial proceedings.
The groups further appealed to the Federal Government and the National Human Rights Commission to closely monitor the matter, while calling on the United Nations, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other international human rights bodies to intervene.
They stressed that the case had gone beyond an individual trial and had become a symbol of the wider struggle for justice, accountability and peaceful coexistence in conflict-affected communities across Nigeria.
They also stage a solidarity match in the street after the press conference.
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