A seventy-year-old man, Ahmed Adoke and a mechanic, John Sule, have been
arraigned before a Chief Magistrate Court II sitting in Lokoja, Kogi
State, for allegedly kidnapping Justice Samuel Obayomi of the state High
Court, Ebogogo, on May 25.
Adoke and Sule were charged with criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and kidnapping contrary to sections 97(1) and 221 of the Penal Code Law and Part 1, section 3 (a)(i)(ii) of the state Kidnapping, Thuggery and Other Related Offences Prohibition Law 2010.
The accused were alleged to have, on May 25, along with others at large, conspired and armed themselves with offensive weapons to commit the crime.
According to the Police First Information Report (FIR), the accused, wielding AK-47 rifles and locally made pistols, waylaid the judge on Ebogogo road, close to the court premises and 'forcefully stopped his car.”
The FIR, read by the prosecuting police officer, Inspector C.S. Ayabatu, said that the men shot at the judge’s police orderly, Corporal Usman Musa, killing him on the spot.
They were alleged to have 'violently kidnapped' and taken Justice Obayomi to an unknown destination only to release him after collecting an undisclosed sum of money as ransom.
The FIR said that the accused were arrested on June 6 by a team of Federal Special Anti Robbery Squad (FSARS) from Abuja and brought to Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department in Lokoja, the state capital.
However Adoke’s counsel, Muazu Abbas, applied for bail of the accused and based his application on Section 36(5) of the constitution, urging the court to exercise its discretion in favour of his client.
But the prosecuting police officer opposed the application on the ground that the offences were not ordinarily bailable.
The Chief Magistrate, Alhassan Husaini, however, ruled that the offences were grave given the attendant consequences of life imprisonment without an option of fine upon conviction in line with the state law on kidnapping.
He said: “I therefore hasten to refuse this application in the light of the rampant and prevalent cases of kidnapping within the state which have been on an increasing surge and in monumental proportion.
“Consequently, I hereby order that the two accused persons be remanded at the Federal Prisons, Koton-Karfe." He then adjourned the case to July 28 for mention.
Adoke and Sule were charged with criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and kidnapping contrary to sections 97(1) and 221 of the Penal Code Law and Part 1, section 3 (a)(i)(ii) of the state Kidnapping, Thuggery and Other Related Offences Prohibition Law 2010.
The accused were alleged to have, on May 25, along with others at large, conspired and armed themselves with offensive weapons to commit the crime.
According to the Police First Information Report (FIR), the accused, wielding AK-47 rifles and locally made pistols, waylaid the judge on Ebogogo road, close to the court premises and 'forcefully stopped his car.”
The FIR, read by the prosecuting police officer, Inspector C.S. Ayabatu, said that the men shot at the judge’s police orderly, Corporal Usman Musa, killing him on the spot.
They were alleged to have 'violently kidnapped' and taken Justice Obayomi to an unknown destination only to release him after collecting an undisclosed sum of money as ransom.
The FIR said that the accused were arrested on June 6 by a team of Federal Special Anti Robbery Squad (FSARS) from Abuja and brought to Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department in Lokoja, the state capital.
However Adoke’s counsel, Muazu Abbas, applied for bail of the accused and based his application on Section 36(5) of the constitution, urging the court to exercise its discretion in favour of his client.
But the prosecuting police officer opposed the application on the ground that the offences were not ordinarily bailable.
The Chief Magistrate, Alhassan Husaini, however, ruled that the offences were grave given the attendant consequences of life imprisonment without an option of fine upon conviction in line with the state law on kidnapping.
He said: “I therefore hasten to refuse this application in the light of the rampant and prevalent cases of kidnapping within the state which have been on an increasing surge and in monumental proportion.
“Consequently, I hereby order that the two accused persons be remanded at the Federal Prisons, Koton-Karfe." He then adjourned the case to July 28 for mention.
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