By Praise Chinecherem
A High Court in Nnewi, Anambra State, has sentenced two men to death by hanging for kidnapping a prominent businessman, brutally assaulting him and collecting a N7.5 million ransom from his family.
The convicts, Chidozie Obinna and Ifeanyi Onyido, were found guilty of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and inflicting grievous harm on Chief Lawrence Ezeifeka.
Delivering judgment, Justice Vincent Agbata of the Nnewi Judicial Division held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and convicted both men.
One of the convicts, Obinna, was sentenced in absentia after allegedly jumping bail and disappearing during the trial.
The court heard that the duo, together with other gang members still on the run, stormed Ezeifeka’s residence in Ekwulumili, Nnewi South Local Government Area, on December 12, 2020.
In a violent attack, the kidnappers allegedly beat the businessman, threw him from the first floor of his building and whisked him away to an unknown destination.
The victim spent four agonising days in captivity before his family secured his freedom after paying a ransom of N7.5 million.
Prosecutors told the court that operatives of the Anambra State Police Command, working with the Department of State Services (DSS), later tracked down and arrested the suspects.
Lead prosecuting counsel, Mrs Mary Ukaekwe-Onyeaharam, urged the court to continue proceedings against Obinna after he absconded while on bail. She relied on relevant provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Anambra State, 2022, and the Anambra State Practice Direction for Criminal Matters, 2023.
During the trial, four prosecution witnesses, including the victim, his son who delivered the ransom, the Secretary of Ekwulumili Town Union and the investigating police officer, testified before the court.
Onyido denied participating in the crime and claimed he was himself a victim of kidnapping.
But Justice Agbata rejected the defence, noting that evidence before the court showed Onyido received part of the ransom and failed to give a credible explanation for the money.
The judge ruled that the prosecution’s evidence was neither successfully challenged nor contradicted by the defence.
He subsequently sentenced both men to death by hanging, while security agencies continue the hunt for other members of the kidnapping gang who remain at large.