An Ekiti State High Court has sentenced two men arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) to death by hanging after convicting them for the kidnapping of a staff member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The convicts, Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar, were found guilty of abducting Omoboade Adesina, an NYSC staff member, on April 22, 2022.
A third defendant, Usman Abubakar, was discharged and acquitted after the court ruled that the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence linking him to the crime.
The two convicted kidnappers were arrested by the DSS following investigations and subsequently prosecuted before the court.
Delivering judgment, the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Lekan Ogunmoye, sentenced Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar to death by hanging.
Justice Ogunmoye commended the DSS prosecution team for successfully proving the case beyond reasonable doubt. He noted that the identification parade conducted by the agency and the analysis of call data records were crucial pieces of evidence that led to the conviction.
The judgment marks another significant courtroom success for the DSS. It follows recent convictions secured by the agency, including a death sentence handed down by a Sokoto State High Court against three men found guilty of terrorism and cross-border arms trafficking, as well as the conviction of a kidnapper in Kogi State.
