Justice Adenike Akinpelu of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin on Thursday handed down a life imprisonment sentence to Usman Adamu, known as the Serikin Fulani (Head of the Fulani) in Kwara State, along with his brother and Gidado Idris.
According to The PUNCH, they were convicted for conspiracy to kidnap and the act of kidnapping.
The case underwent investigation by the Department of State Services and was prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution in the state Ministry of Justice.
The DPP, Mr. Ayoola Akande, pressed charges against the Serikin Fulani and two others for the abduction of Abubakar Ahmad.
The trio demanded a ransom of N1 million for his release after holding him captive for 20 days in the bush.
According to the prosecution, the kidnapping occurred between May and June in 2022.
In her ruling, Justice Akinpelu stated that the three defendants conspired to commit the crime, emphasizing that their physical presence at the kidnapping scene was inconsequential.
She further mentioned that the convicts falsely detained their victim, alleging he was a kidnapping suspect, as a means to extort money from him.
“I am not persuaded by the submissions of counsel for the defendants to dismiss the two- count charge against them based on the fact that they were not at the scene of the incident.”
Justice Akinpelu lamented that “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 convicts allocutus plea of having over 20 children, more than eight wives and being the breadwinner of their family, the judge said that “by Section 15 of the Kwara 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”.
She directed the payment of N600,000 to Ahmad, the victim of the abduction.
