An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti on Monday sentenced three kidnappers to a cumulative 97 years’ imprisonment for offences bordering on kidnapping, armed robbery and unlawful possession of firearms.
The convicts — Augustine Agbogbo, Adeniyi Olamilekan and Ademoh Gabriel — were handed 40, 25 and 32 years’ jail terms respectively, with no option of fine.
In the same judgment, the court discharged and acquitted three other defendants — Ogungbemi Gbenga, Monday Rakiya and Oseni Mutairu — after ruling that the prosecution failed to establish the allegations against them beyond reasonable doubt.
The six defendants had been arraigned before Justice Adeniyi Familoni on August 11, 2023, on a six-count charge including conspiracy, kidnapping, armed robbery and unlawful possession of offensive weapons.
According to the charge, the convicts conspired to rob one Ajibade Adeleke of N15,000 in June 2022 at Ayede Ekiti.
They were also accused of robbing a retired naval officer, Lt Cdr Victoria Eisape, of N40,000 on December 20, 2022, at Itapaji Ekiti, before abducting her alongside Adeleke.
The prosecution further stated that the victims were kidnapped along the Itapaji–Iyemero Road while the assailants were armed with guns and cutlasses.
Testifying before the court, Eisape recounted that the kidnappers demanded N70m ransom but eventually released her after receiving N8m. She added that she reported the incident to the police after regaining her freedom.
The prosecution, led by Albert Adeyemi, called seven witnesses and tendered several exhibits, including firearms, live and expended cartridges, a search warrant, and statements of the defendants.
The defendants, however, did not call any witnesses in their defence.
In his ruling, Justice Familoni dismissed the defendants’ retraction of their confessional statements, describing it as an afterthought. He held that the prosecution successfully proved the charges against the first three defendants.
The judge noted that kidnapping remained a persistent security challenge despite efforts to curb it, stressing the need for stiff penalties to deter criminal elements.
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He subsequently sentenced the convicts to various jail terms across the counts, ordering that the sentences run concurrently from the date of their arrest and remand in custody.
