Jalingo: Justice Joel Agya, Presiding Judge, Taraba State High Court, No. 1, sitting in Jalingo on Friday, sentenced four persons to life imprisonment for attempted kidnapping.
Prosper Paul, Samuel David, Nosiu Buba and Samuel Kelvin, arraigned as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants, respectively, were charged with criminal conspiracy, attempted kidnapping and kidnapping.
Delivering Judgment, Agya said that Sections 4 and 5 of the Taraba State Kidnapping and Abduction Prohibition Law of 2019, as amended, were explicit on such offences.
The judge sentenced Paul, the first defendant, to 12 months in jail without the option of a fine on the charge of criminal conspiracy.
David, Buba and Kelvin, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants respectively, who were cleared of the charge of criminal conspiracy, were, however, sentenced to life in prison, having been found guilty of the crime of attempted kidnapping.
The judge recalled that the suspects were brought to court in November 2021 by the state government.
Agya stated that, in determining the suit, the prosecution counsel had earlier presented six witnesses to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, in line with Section 97(1) of the Law of Taraba State 1997, regarding kidnapping and abduction.
He, however, said that the defence counsel, on the other hand, had prayed the court to discharge and acquit the accused due to the failure of the prosecution to prove the cases of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and abduction beyond a reasonable doubt.
He said that the defence counsel based its argument on Section 136 of the Evidence Act 2022, stating that there must exist a direct eyewitness and confessional statements from all the witnesses in the determination of such a suit.
He also quoted the defence as saying that the Police must properly investigate cases, especially those that could attract a sentence bordering on capital punishment.
Agya noted that the defence had established that the Police had failed to carry out a proper investigation into the matter.
Earlier, Mr Mahanan Luka, of the Legal Aid Council and counsel to the first defendant, had pleaded for mercy for his client, saying he was a repentant criminal who was even leading one of the chaplaincy groups in the correctional centre.
Mr Mustapha Adam, Deputy Director of Citizens’ Rights, Ministry of Justice, commended the judge over what he described as a landmark judgement.
