Community leader, two others bag life in jail terms for kidnapping in Nigeria’s north central

The Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, north-central Nigeria, has condemned Serikin Fulani of Kwara, Usman A Adamu, his brother, and one Gidaddo Idris to life in jail for kidnapping conspiracy and kidnapping.

The trio were accused of kidnapping one Abubakar Ahmad and demanding a ransom of N1 million before releasing him after spending more than two weeks in captivity.

Reports say the kidnapping occurred in the middle of last year.

The defendants were brought before the court by the Kwara State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Idowu Ayoola, for a suspected abduction plot and act.

While ruling over the case, Justice Adenike Akinpelu said the three were all in agreement to perpetrate the crime, and whether they were physically present at the kidnapping scene was irrelevant.

She said: “I am not persuaded by the submissions of counsel to defendants counsel to dismiss the two-count charge against them based on the fact that they were not at the scene of the incident.”

The judged, while expressing her disappointment, said, “It is saddening and disturbing that community leaders charged with the welfare of their subjects could, because of the love of money, breach the security of the same subjects. They are hereby found guilty as charged and are so convicted.”

After listening to the convict’s allocutus plea, the judge said: “By Section 15 of the Lead State Anti-Kidnapping Law, the court cannot exercise any discretion of leniency, so you are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment. The sentence is to run concurrently.”