An Osun State High Court sentenced five men on trial for the kidnapping and murder of Ibrahim Adamu, a Fulani herder who was selling cows in Owode-Ede, Osun State, to death by hanging on Tuesday.
After Adamu’s (herder) abduction, he was said to have been moved into a secluded place in his Toyota Corolla car.
The herder was later killed despite paying N3 million ransom after he identified one of the perpetrators of the crime.
The defendants, Ibrahim Issa, Lateef Bello, Abdul Ramon Soliu, Bello Ibrahim, and Abudu Mumini Jolaanobi Saheed, were first arraigned before the court on October 28, 2021, for offences bordering on conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder.
Arraigned before Justice Kudirat Akano of the State High Court, sitting in Ede, the charges pressed against the defendants were said to be contrary to Sections 324, 319, and 364 of the Criminal Code Laws of Osun State.
However, they all pleaded not guilty to the four charges pressed against them by the state.
Stating the facts of the matter during the trial, the lead prosecuting counsel from the Ministry of Justice, Mr. Moses Faremi, told the court that the defendants abducted Adamu on April 17, 2018, around 7:45 p.m. at his residence located at Owode-Ede, Osun State.
When he appeared before the court, one of the prosecution witnesses, the Investigating Police Officer in charge of the matter, Mr. Ganiyu Taofeek, tendered exhibits including extrajudicial statements and a mask allegedly used by the defendants, which dropped at the scene of the crime during the struggle between the perpetrators and the victim.
Taofeek also testified that Adamu identified one of the abductors while in their custody, prompting them to kill him.
He also said a member of the gang, Abdu Mumini, having realised that Adamu had identified one of them, directed other members of the gang, including three Togolese, who are yet to be arrested, to slaughter the victim.
The police officer also stated that after Adamu’s death, Abdul Mumini fled with his head and heart, while Soliu, another gang member, took the deceased’s arms.
Later reports claimed to have dumped the deceased’s remains in the Osun River.
The IPO further said that Abdu Mumini, in his confessional statement, narrated in detail why the gang killed Adamu and how they shared the ransom they collected from the victim’s family.
While addressing the court, the defence counsel, Mr. Bola Ige, said the charges pressed against his clients had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecuting counsel.
Also, Folashade Ipede of the Legal Aid Council pleaded with the judge to temper justice with mercy.
Delivering her judgement, Justice Akano found the five men guilty of all the counts preferred against them.
She accordingly sentenced them to death by hanging.
