Adoke’s cousin, mechanic docked over alleged kidnap of High Court Judge, remanded in prison

The Kogi State Police Command, on Wednesday, arraigned a 72-year-old man, Ahmed Adoke, and a mechanic, John Sule, in a Lokoja Chief Magistrates’ Court, for allegedly kidnapping Justice Samuel Obayomi of a Kogi High Court.
Ahmed Adoke is cousin to former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke.
The septuagenarian and Sule, all of Okene, were charged with criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and kidnapping.
They were alleged to have on May 25, along with others now at large, criminally conspired and armed themselves with offensive weapons to commit the crime.
The prosecutor, Inspector C.S. Ayabatu, told the court that the accused persons waylaid the judge.
“ The accused persons wielding AK-47 rifle and locally made pistols, disguised themselves and waylaid the judge on Ebogogo Road, close to the court premises and forcefully stopped His Lordship’s car.
He alleged that the hoodlums instantly shot at the judge’s police orderly, Corporal Usman Musa who died on the spot.
Ayabatu said that they “violently kidnapped Obayomi’’ took him to an unknown destination, and only released him after collecting an undisclosed sum of money as ransom.
He said that the accused persons were arrested on June 6, by a team of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad from Abuja, and brought to Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Lokoja.
The offences contravened the provisions of Sections 97(1) and 221 of the Penal Code Law and Part 1 section 3(a)(i)(ii) of the State Kidnapping, Thuggery and Other Related Offences Prohibition Law 2010.
Adoke’s counsel, Muazu Abbas orally applied for bail of the accused and anchored his application on Section 36(5) of the Constitution, urging the court to exercise its discretion in favour of his client.
But Ayabatu opposed the application on the ground that the offences for which cognizance was taken were not ordinarily bailable.
He said that the matter was still under investigation, adding that releasing the accused persons on bail at this stage would jeopardise police investigations, aside the fact that they could jump bail.
In his ruling, Chief Magistrate Alhassan Husaini said the offences were grave, given the attendant consequences of life imprisonment without an option of fine upon conviction, in line with the state law on kidnapping.
“I therefore hasten to refuse this application in the light of the rampant and prevalent cases of kidnapping within the state which has been increasing and in monumental proportion.
“In consequence, I hereby order that the two accused persons be remanded at the Federal Prisons, Koton-Karfe”, and adjourned the case till July 28, for mention.
Justice Samuel Obayomi, the Resident High Court Judge of Ebogogo in Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi was kidnapped on Monday, May 25, by a three-member gang all dressed in black.
He was released after 34 days in the kidnappers’ custody on Sunday June 27.