by Oge Okonkwo

A 28-year-old  man, Chizoba Chinwoba has been arraigned before an  Ebute-Meta Magistrate’s Court on a 21 count charge including armed robbery, kidnapping and murder.

The accused, Chinwoba was accused of being part of the gang that shot and killed one Nweze Okwuchi.

He was also accused of torturing the victims he had kidnapped for ransom along with his gang which lead to some of his victims losing their sight.

Eagle Online reports:

The court heard that Chinwoba is a member of a robbery gang, whose other fleeing members are already on police wanted list.

The court was also told how the gang captured and detained five men and a 22-year-old lady, and smiled away with ransom ranging from N1.5 million to N5 million.

The victims were said to have been blindfolded with cello-tape.

It was also learnt that apart from kidnapping, the gang stole items, which included two gold chains valued N488,000; a gold ring valued N100,000; a Honda Pilot car; a Suv Venza car; a Toyota Corolla car 2010; a Toyota jeep; phones; gadgets; documents; and hundreds of dollars and naira cash.

The police was said to have recovered one AK 47 assault rifle, 78 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition and five assault rifle magazines from hideout where the kidnappers kept them.

The prosecution counsel – Cyril Ejiofor, Godwin Osuyi, and Iyobosa Onaiwu – applied for his remand in prison pending legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecution.
The case was adjourned till February 26, 2014.