An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has sentenced three persons to a combined 97 years’ imprisonment for offences bordering on kidnapping, armed robbery and unlawful possession of firearms.
The convicts — Augustine Agbogbo, Adeniyi Olamilekan and Ademoh Gabriel — were handed jail terms of 40, 25 and 32 years respectively, with no option of fine.
Trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Familoni, however, discharged and acquitted three other defendants — Ogungbemi Gbenga, Monday Rakiya and Oseni Mutairu — after ruling that the prosecution failed to establish the charges against them beyond reasonable doubt.
The six defendants had been arraigned on August 11, 2023, on a six-count charge including conspiracy, kidnapping, armed robbery and unlawful possession of offensive weapons.
According to the charge, the convicts conspired to rob one Ajibade Adeleke of ₦15,000 in June 2022 and later attacked him alongside a retired Naval officer, Lt Cdr Victoria Eisape, on December 20, 2022, at Itapaji Ekiti, where they dispossessed them of ₦40,000 and abducted both victims at gunpoint.
They were also accused of demanding a ransom for the victims’ release and were found in possession of three long-barrelled guns, 33 live cartridges and several expended shells without licence in April 2023.
During the trial, one of the victims, Eisape, narrated how she and Adeleke were kidnapped along the Itapaji–Iyemero Road and held captive until a ransom was paid.
“We were asked to pay ₦70m, but I was released after ₦8m was paid. I reported the incident to the police after my freedom,” she told the court.
The prosecution, led by Albert Adeyemi, called seven witnesses and tendered several exhibits, including firearms, ammunition, a search warrant and statements obtained from the defendants.
In his judgement, Justice Familoni dismissed the defendants’ retraction of their confessional statements, describing it as an afterthought.
“I find the retraction of their confessions to be an afterthought and I reject their defence,” the judge held.
He added that the prosecution successfully proved the offences against the first three defendants, warranting their conviction.
The judge, who lamented the persistent wave of kidnapping across the country, said the stiff sentences would serve as a deterrent to others.
“All the sentences are without option of fine and shall run concurrently from the date the convicts were arrested and remanded,” he ruled.
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