Soldiers kill kidnapper, rescue four victims in Edo
Soldiers attached to Operation Igbo Danu 1 alongside personnel from the Nigerian Army School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and local vigilantes in Aucbi, Etsako West Local Government Area, have
Soldiers attached to Operation Igbo Danu 1 alongside personnel from the Nigerian Army School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and local vigilantes in Aucbi, Etsako West Local Government Area, have killed a suspected kidnapper and rescued four victims.
The soldiers were on patrol when they heard gunshots at Warrake forest and promptly responded.
Spokesman for 4 Brigade Nigerian Army, Captain Kennedy Anyanwu, said they pursued the kidnappers with applied minimum use of firearms.
Captain Anyanwu said one of the notorious kidnappers that had been terrorising Auchi and environs was killed during the encounter while others abandoned their victims and fled into the bush.
He named the rescued victims as Stella Abbas, Tina Ododa, Razak Rashid and Mutanibi Kalifa.
Items recovered from the dead kidnapper, according to Anyanwu, were N650,000, footwear, power bank.and mobile phones.
Advertisement
300x250
Anyawu stated that troops, in collaboration with the state Security Corps, also raided a suspected kidnappers hideout at Ujemen, Esan West Local Government Area and arrested a 39-year-old suspect, Omogbegha Solomon.
Also, an Ilorin, Kwara State High Court has sentenced two kidnappers to death by hanging.
Delivering judgment, presiding Judge Ahmed Gegele said the evidence before the court established the involvement of the defendants in the offences.
The convicts, Abubakar Sodiki, and Abubakar Mohammed, were prosecuted on six-count charge of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms, among others.
Earlier, the victim, Alhaji Saheed Arowasi of Boniya in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State testified before the court.
He told the court that the kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of N100 million, but after negotiations the amount was reduced to N10 million before he was released.
The prosecution counsel, Muslimah Suleiman, had argued that the charges brought against the defendants were established by the evidence.
Counsel to the defendants, Shu’aib Ibrahim pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.
Advertisement
300x250
While the first defendant begged the court for leniency, the second defendant maintained that he knew nothing about the allegations.
The prosecution, however, told the court that it was not aware of any previous criminal record against the defendants.
Read Also: China, Nigeria celebrate women as drivers of progress ahead of International Women’s Day
Delivering judgment, presiding Judge Ahmed Gegele said the evidence before the court established the involvement of the defendants in the offences.
Justice Gegele said he had considered the allocutus of the defendants but noted that the court could not exercise discretion where the law had prescribed punishment for the offences.
Advertisement
300x250
He subsequently sentenced the defendants to death by hanging on counts one and two relating to armed robbery.
On the charges of illegal possession of firearms, the court sentenced them to 10 years’ imprisonment.
For the offence of kidnapping, the court sentenced the convicts to life imprisonment.
He said a shrine containing charms and photographs of various individuals in an abandoned room within the compound was destroyed, and the suspect handed over to the Nigeria Police Force Ekpoma Division for further investigation.
“Commander 4 Brigade, Brig.-Gene Ahmed Balogun, commended the troops for their dexterity and urged them to sustain the onslaught against the criminals in line with directives from the General Officer Commanding 2 Division, Maj.-Gen Chinedu Nnebeife. He further reassured the residents of Edo State of the Brigade’s commitment towards the protection of lives and property in the state.”
