A Bayelsa State High Court in Yenagoa has sentenced two men to death by hanging for kidnapping Mrs. Grace Omietimi, the mother of Dr. James Omietimi, the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Center in Yenagoa.
Felix Oburu and Anthony Kio Eligwe were found guilty of kidnapping the victim and holding her captive for weeks before letting her go.
The court heard that the two men worked with other criminals, who are still on the loose, to commit the crime.
Oburu is from the Omoku Community in the Ogba/Egbema Local Government Area, and Eligwe is from the Oyigba Community in the Ahoada West Local Government Area, both in Rivers State.
The court records say that Omietimi was kidnapped on September 17, 2017, and taken to Oyigba Community, where she was held for weeks.
Her family paid a ransom, and she was finally let go.
The Department of State Services later caught the suspects after intelligence-led operations tracked their movements and actions.
The Chief Judge of Bayelsa State, Justice Matilda A. Ayemieye, ruled on Thursday that the prosecution’s case was strong enough to convict the defendants.
The court then gave both men the death penalty by hanging.
During the trial, the prosecution called Grace Omietimi to the stand. She told a detailed story about what it was like to be held captive.
She said that the second defendant, Anthony Kio Eligwe, was the person who kept her in his house the whole time.
The Investigating Officer from the DSS Bayelsa State Command backed up her story by explaining how they found and arrested the suspects.
The ruling ends a case that has been going on for years and strengthens the courts’ stance against kidnapping and other crimes related to it.
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