Ekiti Court Hands Down Death Sentences to Two Convicted Kidnappers

An Ekiti State High Court has handed down the death penalty by hanging to two men found guilty of kidnapping a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) staff member within the state.

The convicts, Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar, were prosecuted after being arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) over the kidnapping of the victim, Omoboade Adesina.

The third defendant, Usman Abubakar, was discharged and acquitted after the court found insufficient evidence linking him to the crime.

The case stemmed from the abduction of Adesina, an NYSC staff member, on April 22, 2022.

Following investigations by the DSS, the suspects were arrested and charged before the court.

Delivering judgment, the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, found Ibrahim and Abdullahi Abubakar guilty and sentenced them to death by hanging.

Justice Ogunmoye commended the diligence of the DSS prosecution team for establishing the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The judge specifically identified the identification parade conducted by the agency and the analysis of call data records as critical pieces of evidence that led to the conviction.

While convicting the two defendants, the court discharged the third accused person, Usman Abubakar, after ruling that the prosecution failed to establish his involvement in the offence.

The conviction adds to a series of successful prosecutions secured by the DSS in cases involving kidnapping, terrorism, and related offences across the country.

The agency recently secured the conviction of three men for terrorism and cross-border arms proliferation in Sokoto State, as well as the conviction of another kidnap suspect in Kogi State.