An Ekiti State High Court has sentenced two convicted kidnappers to death by hanging for the abduction of a staff member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), in a judgment that highlights the growing success of the Department of State Services (DSS) in prosecuting violent crimes.
The convicts, Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar, were found guilty by the Ekiti State High Court I, Fajuyi, Ado-Ekiti, in Suit No. HAD/124C/2022. A third defendant, Usman Abubakar, was discharged and acquitted after the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence linking him to the crime.
The case stemmed from the kidnapping of Omoboade Adesina, a female staff member of the NYSC in Ekiti State, on April 22, 2022. Following an extensive investigation, the Department of State Services arrested the suspects and subsequently prosecuted them before the court.
Delivering judgment, the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, convicted Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar and sentenced them to death by hanging. The court, however, discharged the third defendant after determining that the prosecution failed to establish his involvement beyond reasonable doubt.
Justice Ogunmoye commended the diligence and professionalism of the DSS prosecutors, noting that they successfully proved the case beyond reasonable doubt. He particularly praised the identification parade conducted during the investigation and the analysis of Call Data Records (CDRs), which he described as crucial pieces of evidence that strengthened the prosecution’s case and secured the conviction.
The judgment represents another significant legal victory for the DSS in its ongoing efforts to combat kidnapping, terrorism and other violent crimes across the country.
The conviction comes shortly after a Sokoto State High Court sentenced three individuals to death for terrorism-related offences and cross-border arms proliferation in a separate case prosecuted by the DSS. The Service has also recorded recent successes in securing convictions against kidnappers and other criminal elements in different parts of the country, including Kogi State.