Two men arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS, have been sentenced to death by an Ekiti State High Court following their conviction for the kidnap of a staff member of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC.
The convicts, Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar, were convicted by the Ekiti State High Court I, Fajuyi, Ado-Ekiti, in suit number HAD/124C/2022, and are to die by hanging.
A third defendant, Usman Abubakar, was however discharged after the Court held that there was insufficient evidence linking him to the crime.
The case stemmed from the abduction of Omoboade Adesina, a female staff member of the National Youth Service Corps in Ekiti State, on 22nd April 2022.
Following the abduction, the two convicts were arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services and subsequently prosecuted.
Delivering judgment, the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, found Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar guilty of kidnapping and sentenced both men to death by hanging.
The Court, however, discharged and acquitted the third defendant, Usman Abubakar.
Justice Ogunmoye commended the diligence and professionalism of the DSS prosecutors for successfully proving the case beyond reasonable doubt.
He specifically highlighted the identification parade conducted by the Service, as well as the analysis of Call Data Records during investigation, as critical pieces of evidence that strengthened the prosecution’s case and ultimately secured the conviction.
The judgment marks another major courtroom success for the Department of State Services in its sustained efforts to combat violent crimes across the country.
The conviction comes on the heels of a death sentence recently handed down by a Sokoto State High Court against three men convicted of terrorism and cross-border arms proliferation.
It also follows the successful conviction of a kidnap suspect in Kogi State earlier secured by the Service, among other prosecutions.
The secret Police notes that the string of successful prosecutions underscores the increasing reliance on intelligence-led investigations in tackling kidnapping, terrorism, and other violent crimes.
It also reinforces the commitment of the Department of State Services to ensuring that perpetrators of kidnapping, terrorism, and related criminal offences are brought to justice and made to face the full weight of the law.