TRACKING _____Kidnapping is a crime which the Nigerian arms of government are trying really had fun combat. Kidnapping in Nigeria most of the time goes hand in hand with extortion or ransom taking. Once upon a time, there was a notoriously successful nigerian Kidnapper named Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike, also called Evans. He has since been apprehended though and his assets frozen.
Just recently, two of his former gang members were sentenced to 41 years Imprisonment. This was done by an Ikeja High court which sat in Lagos on the 29th day of June which was Monday.
The convicts, 32-year-old Kelvin Emenike Ukoh and Emeka Obasi, 33, were sentenced by Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo over the Kidnap of Ugoje Jude, who is a shipping agent, and his employee, a young lady named Piriye Gogo on August 3, 2012.
The two convicts had been arrested in 2013 along with other three others namely Uche Igbani, 28, Chibuzor Osuagwu, 33 and a 36-year-old woman, Onowu Ngozi. They were held on a 14 count-charge due to their many crimes. The gang had kidnapped Ugoje and Piriye Gogo and were taken to an unknown destination by their leader, Evans.
While taking a stand in the court, Miss Gogo narrated how the three men had ambushed them with rifles on their way home. She also disclosed that she narrowly escaped being raped because she was menstruating at the time. Jude, when called to the stand told the court how the kidnappers had demanded N10m from him before settling for N5m instead.
After the hearing, the judge, Justice Taiwo sentence Ukoh and Obasi to 5 years for conspiracy, 15 years for Kidnapping and 21 years for Robbery. This made the total years of their sentence 41 years. The other three which had been arrested along with them were acquitted due to lack of adequate evidence.
