Five bag life imprisonment for kidnapping in Ondo

A High Court sitting in Akure, Ondo state capital, has sentenced five people to life imprisonment over their involvement in the kidnap of a middle-aged woman.

The convicts which include: Tosin Adenikinju, Abiodun Olabowale, Omoniyi Akinsoyinu, Olatuyi Igbekele, and Daso Oluwasiji, were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The accused were said to have kidnapped a nurse, Mrs Unikiere Adodo, who is a staffer of the Araromi-Obu Rubber Plantation, in 2015 in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State before they were arrested by men of the state police command.

They were subsequently arraigned before the court on a two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges but it was argued beyond doubts that the accused were involved in the abduction of the nurse.

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But the victim, while testifying before the court, narrated how she was whisked away at gunpoint, on her way to church around 8:30 am at Araromi Obu.

She said,” I was ordered not to look at their faces. They said they only wanted to use me to collect money from my employers. I spent two weeks with them before I was released.’’

In his judgement, the presiding Judge, Justice O.A Odusola, held that the prosecution had proved the case of conspiracy and kidnapping against the defendants beyond a reasonable doubt.

He, however, sentenced all the accused to seven years imprisonment on the first count; and life imprisonment on the second count.