A High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta state, has committed three notorious kidnappers to 42 years in prison with hard labour.
They were found guilty of kidnapping one Otio Onoriode Paul, a student, on July 1, 2012, at Ogharaki and held him hostage for six days before men of the Department of State Security (DSS) pounced on them through intelligence gathering.
They allegedly collected a ransom of N2 million before they released their victim.
The convicts, including one Innocent Atunye, a politician, Emmanuel Adebayo, a student and one Emmanuel Edokun, had stood trial since 2012 on a four-count charge.
The Presiding judge said each of the convicts should proceed on a 14-year jail term for conspiracy and kidnapping.
It was nevertheless without mild drama as one of the convicts’ mothers caused a stir by wailing and rolling on the floor of the courtyard, having miscued the verdict as a death sentence.
Her hysteria obstructed court proceedings temporarily before she was brought back to normalcy and taken away by the police.
The court, however, discharged and acquitted them on the count of demanding property with menace and that of armed robbery.
Another High Court in Asaba also sentenced a 25-year-old welder, Ebierim Onianwa, to 11 years in prison with hard labour for kidnapping one Phillip
Okocha on January 31, 2012, and holding him hostage for four days.
The victim regained his freedom after an alleged sum of N1million ransom was paid.
