Supreme Court Affirms Death Penalty for Convicted Kidnapper

The Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence for Chelynor Halim, a convicted kidnapper from Delta State, on Friday.

In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel of the apex court dismissed Halim’s appeal for lacking merit.

The court affirmed the judgment of a Delta State High Court sitting in Asaba, which had in 2017 convicted him for armed robbery and kidnapping.

The trial court had held that the proof of evidence established Halim’s involvement in the abduction of one Joan Osemene on February 9, 2014.

Osemene was reportedly kidnapped and taken to an unknown location in Ibusa, Delta State. The court heard that Halim and his accomplices attacked the victim during the abduction.

Halim was said to have slapped the victim and threatened her with a gun before covering her nose with a cloth containing a substance that made her pass out.

At the scene, the gang leader, identified as Edozie Obude, allegedly grabbed the victim by the throat, struck her neck with a metal object and ordered that she be searched.

The victim testified that the gang seized her ATM card and ₦10,000 cash. The gang later used the ATM card to withdraw ₦55,000 from her account.

According to the victim, her hands and legs were tied before she was taken to another location and abandoned.

Victim Escaped, Identified Convict

Osemene eventually freed herself and escaped to a major road, where she flagged down a motorcyclist. The motorcyclist turned out to be Halim.

On recognising him as one of her attackers, she raised the alarm, prompting bystanders to apprehend him before he could flee.

Halim was later handed over to the Department of State Services (DSS).

He reportedly led operatives to the gang’s hideout, where a shootout occurred and the gang leader, Obude, was killed.

In the lead judgment read by Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme, the Supreme Court held that there was no doubt about Halim’s identity as a member of the gang.

The court also held that the evidence before the trial court established his presence at the crime scene.

The apex court dismissed the appeal marked SC/CR/913/2022 and upheld the sentence of death by hanging.

The judgment comes amid rising kidnapping cases across the country. Recent incidents include the abduction of pupils and teachers from schools in Borno and Oyo states.

In Borno, armed groups attacked schools in Askira Uba and Chibok local government areas on May 13 and 14, abducting 42 pupils.

In Oyo, coordinated attacks on May 15 at Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School; and L.A. Primary School, Esiele, in Oriire Local Government Area, led to the abduction of about 40 pupils.

Efforts are ongoing to secure the release of the abductees.