A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin on Friday sentenced six Fulani Herdsmen to life imprisonment for kidnapping.
Justice Hannah Ajayi found the men guilty and convicted them on offences of conspiracy, kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms.
Those convicted after standing trial before the Court for about five years included; Tambaya Abubakar, Babuga Umaru, Shehu Umaru, Mojumba Bello, Abubakar Juli and Mamma Lawali.
The prosecution had charged the six accused persons with conspiracy, kidnapping and possession of firearms.
The convicts were alleged to have conspired and kidnapped one Usman Mohammed while armed with two single barrel guns at Osi in Ekiti Local Government area of Kwara State in 2017.
The charge further revealed that the convicts took Mohammed into the bush where they demanded a ransom and were paid N400,000 by the victim’s family.
The convicts who pleaded not guilty to the charges during the course of the trial told the court through their separate counsel that they were Fulanis who reared cattle and were always busy on their various farms attending to their animals.
Justice Ajayi in her judgment found the six accused persons guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
The Kwara State Director of Public Prosecution, Barr Abdulmumini Jimoh (SAN), who prosecuted the matter, expressed satisfaction with the verdict adding that it would serve as a deterrent to others.
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