A Kogi State High Court has sentenced Jibrin Halilu to death by hanging for kidnapping and killing his neighbour after collecting a N2.5 million ransom from the victim’s family.
Justice Abdul Awulu delivered the judgment yesterday convicting Halilu on two counts of conspiracy and kidnapping contrary to Sections 12, 6(1) and 4(3)(a) of the Kogi State Kidnapping and Other Related Offences Prohibition Law, 2023.
The Department of State Services (DSS), which prosecuted the case, told the court that Halilu and members of his gang abducted Uche Offo, proprietor of Ever Ready Hotel in Angwa-Tiv, Obajana, on March 23, 2023.
The victim’s family paid the N2.5 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers, but Offo was subsequently killed. A DSS source said Offo recognised Halilu as his neighbour while in captivity, a development believed to have sealed his fate.
Investigations also linked Halilu and his gang to the kidnapping of one Ibrahim Abdullahi in Oshokoshoko community, Lokoja, on April 2, 2023. The gang collected a N5 million ransom from Abdullahi’s family before releasing him
Credit: The Nation
