By Law & Society Magazine
Dr. Yakubu Sankey, the husband of Hon. Justice Jummai Hannatu Sankey of Nigeria’s Court of Appeal is dead.
The professor, lecturer, farmer, Community Development Expert, and one-time acting Director General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), was allegedly killed on Friday.
A source close to the Sankeys lamented that “A failed state and the nonchalant attitude of government toward security killed him.”
According to the source, the Senior Adviser, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and Contestant to the seat of Bajju traditional Council “was not just killed. He was utterly, totally butchered. The Sallah Ram is treated better.
“He had visited the village briefly. The target, the story goes, was his brother, a traditional title holder who is also a politician. The killers met him and could not be bothered whom they slaughtered.”
Yakubu Sankey was survived by his wife, Justice Jummai Sankey, and children.
Justice Sankey is the second daughter of Elizabeth Pam. Elizabeth Pam was a member of the Oputa Panel (Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission) set up by the Obasanjo administration in the year 2000, to investigate human rights abuses dating back to the military coup of 15th January 1966 till 28th May 1999, the day before the last military handover to civilians.
Her father, Lieutenant Colonel James Yakubu Pam was killed during the 1966 coup. Lt. Colonel J.Y. Pam led the Nigeria – Tanzania Bilateral Special Training and Security Mission in 1964.
