A Delta state High Court has sentenced three individuals to death by hanging after they were found guilty of kidnapping and murdering a monarch.
The dead monarch, King of Ubulu-uku Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Obi Edward Akaelue Ofulue 111, was abducted along the Obior road alongside Pastor Afamefuna Ugboh sometime in 2016.
He was held captive for days before his remains was later found in a bush. His co-abductee Pastor Ugboh escaped captivity and testified against the defendants.
The defendants, Umar Mohammed (m), Suleiman Musa (m), and Garba Abubakar Haruna aka Dogo (m) were said to have perpetrated the crime on January 6, 2016.
Prosecution team called five witnesses
To prove its case, the prosecution team lined up five key witnesses, including Pastor Ugoh, who somehow managed to get away from the captive.
The prosecution team, who are from the State Ministry of Justice and were chaired by Mr Anthony Orhorhoro, the Director of Public Prosecutions, charged the defendants with number of serious offences including conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery, and then conspiracy to commit murder and then the murder of the late monarch.
Pastor Ugboh gave eyewitness accounts of how they were, at gunpoint, strongarmed into captivity. He also detailed how he managed to escape.
Court sentences man for robbery
Another man who did not partake in the kidnapping and murder but had in his possession the phone of the deceased was sentenced to spend 14 years in prison without an option of a fine.
Court takes major decision on Yahaya Bello’s alleged N110 billion fraud case
Meanwhile, Legit had earlier reported that a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama had granted bail to Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi State, in the sum of N500 million.
Bello faces charges of alleged criminal breach of trust amounting to N110,446,470,089, a violation of sections 96 and 311 of the Penal Code Law Cap.89, Laws of Northern Nigeria, 1963.
