by Adeola Balogun

5 persons who had been arraigned for kidnapping the wife of the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Muibat Salaam, were yesterday sentenced by a High Court in the state.

The court sitting at Iwo sentenced Chukwudi Okereke (40), Ogbole Ochijile Elijah (25), Okonkwo Lucky (33), Kaikine Mahah (35) and Nwadinnor Philip (30)to 27 years of imprisonment each for their crime.

The gang  was found guilty of carrying out the evil act while armed with AK 47 rifles with which they forcefully took Mrs. Salaam into custody while she was returning from her shop at about 8pm around Oke-Oyo Road in the Ejigbo area of the state on the 9th of October, 2012.

Leadership News reports:

According to the prosecution led by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state ministry of Justice, Mr. Adewale Afolabi, the convicts had confessed to the kidnap of the speaker’s wife in their individual statements to the police during investigations.

Justice Moshood Adeigbe in his over an hour judgement, said that the prosecution has been able to establish their case against the defendants, stressing that “the confessional statements were clear that the accused persons met at Royal Hotel in Agbor, Delta State where they planned the kidnap, perfected it in Lagos and carried it out in Ejigbo”.

Justice Adeigbe said that, “the exhibits also showed that the five accused persons kidnapped the PW2 (Mrs. Salaam), forced her into a trailer and dragged her into the bush on their way to Lagos before the Ogun State Police Command arrested them. I hold that the prosecution has established their case and therefore find the five accused persons guilty of conspiracy, Kidnapping and unlawful possession of firearms”.

The defence counsels, Sam George and Fredrick Komolafe prayers that the court should temper justice with mercy adding that the accused persons are married men with children.

But Justice Adeigbe maintained that the five convicts deserve the full punishments for their offence saying that the act was heartless and condemnable as he sentenced each of them to 7 years imprisonment for the first count of conspiracy, 10 years,for the count of kidnapping and 10 years for the charge of unlawful possession of fire arms.