Ekiti Court Sentences Two Kidnappers Arrested by DSS to Death, Acquits Third Suspect
Two men arrested and prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) have been sentenced to death by an Ekiti State High Court after being found guilty of kidnapping a staff member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The convicts, Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar, were sentenced to death by hanging following their conviction for the abduction of Omoboade Adesina, an NYSC staff member in Ekiti State. A third defendant, Usman Abubakar, was discharged and acquitted after the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence linking him to the crime.
The case stemmed from the abduction of Adesina on April 22, 2022. Following an intensive investigation, operatives of the DSS arrested the suspects and subsequently prosecuted them before the court.
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Delivering judgment, the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, found Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar guilty of the offence and sentenced them to death by hanging. However, the court discharged the third defendant, citing a lack of credible evidence to establish his involvement in the kidnapping.
Justice Ogunmoye commended the professionalism and diligence of the DSS prosecution team for successfully proving the case beyond reasonable doubt. He specifically highlighted the identification parade conducted by the Service and the analysis of call data records as critical pieces of evidence that contributed significantly to securing the conviction.
The judgment represents another major prosecutorial success for the DSS in its ongoing efforts to combat violent crimes across the country. It follows recent convictions secured by the Service, including a death sentence handed down by a High Court in Sokoto State against three individuals convicted of terrorism and cross-border arms trafficking, as well as the successful prosecution of a kidnapper in Kogi State.
The series of successful convictions underscores the effectiveness of the DSS’s intelligence-led investigative and prosecutorial strategies. It also reaffirms the Service’s commitment to ensuring that perpetrators of kidnapping, terrorism, and other serious crimes face the full consequences of the law.
By PRNigeria
