An Ekiti State High Court has sentenced two men to death by hanging for the abduction of a staff member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the state.
The convicts, Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar, were found guilty of kidnapping by the Ekiti State High Court 1 sitting in Fajuyi, Ado-Ekiti, in suit number HAD/124C/2022.
A third defendant, Usman Abubakar, was discharged and acquitted after the court held that the prosecution failed to establish his involvement in the crime.
The case stemmed from the abduction of Omoboade Adesina, a female staff member of the NYSC in Ekiti State, on April 22, 2022.
Following the incident, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested the two convicts and subsequently prosecuted them.
Delivering judgement, the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and consequently sentenced Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar to death by hanging.
The court, however, discharged and acquitted the third defendant, citing insufficient evidence linking him to the offence.
Justice Ogunmoye commended the DSS for its diligence in investigating and prosecuting the case. He noted that evidence obtained through an identification parade and the analysis of Call Data Records (CDRs) were instrumental in securing the conviction.
According to the court, the evidence presented by the prosecution firmly established the involvement of the two convicts in the kidnapping.
Reacting to the judgment, the DSS described the conviction as another significant success in its ongoing efforts to combat kidnapping and other violent crimes across the country.
The agency noted that the judgment comes on the heels of other recent convictions secured through its investigations, including the sentencing of three men by a Sokoto State High Court for terrorism and cross-border arms proliferation, as well as the conviction of a kidnapping suspect in Kogi State.
The DSS said the string of successful prosecutions underscores the growing importance of intelligence-led investigations in tackling kidnapping, terrorism and related criminal activities.
The agency reiterated its commitment to ensuring that perpetrators of violent crimes are brought to justice and made to face the full weight of the law.
