Sarkin Fulani of Kwara, Usman Adamu, his brother, and one Gidaddo Idris were sentenced to life in jail by a Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin, the state capital, for conspiracy to kidnap and abduction itself.
The convicts were accused of kidnapping Abubakar Ahmad and demanding a ransom of one million naira before releasing him after twenty days in captivity.
The kidnapping occurred in the middle of last year.
In her decision, Justice Adenike Akinpelu stated that the three was all in agreement to commit a crime, and that whether they were physically present at the kidnapping scene was irrelevant.
According to her, the prisoners “allegedly arrested their victim, claiming he was a kidnap suspect in order to extort money from him.”
Justice Akinpelu observed that it is unfortunate and troubling that community leaders charged with the wellbeing of their subjects might, for the sake of money, break their subjects’ security and therefore be found guilty as charged and sentenced to life imprisonment.