A Zaria Magistrate’s Court in Kaduna State has sentenced a 25-year-old Okada rider, Bashir Adamu, to 14 years’ imprisonment for the attempted kidnap of his former boss in the ancient city.
Adamu, who resided on Sadauki Road in Wusasa, Zaria, was charged with threat to life and attempted kidnapping.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Abdullahi Sarki, said Adamu, a mason and commercial motorcyclist, was arraigned on charges bordering on threat to life and attempt to kidnap, contrary to Section 247 of the Penal Code.
Sarki explained that on October 12, 2020, around 8pm, a businessman, Kenneth Chinanuife, of 11 Park Road, Sabon Gari, Zaria, came to the Federal Intelligence Bureau at Rigachikun, Kaduna.
According to him, Chinanuife reported that on October 8, 2020, he received a call from the defendant who threatened to kidnap him if he did not provide N1m.
He noted that the caller told him that he was a member of a kidnapping syndicate at Wusasa, Zaria.
“Our detectives traced and arrested Adamu in the process of collecting the money and N108,000 was recovered from him,” Sarki added.
Adamu pleaded guilty to the charges, as the prosecutor applied for summary trial.
The Chief Magistrate, Hajiya Zainab Garba, subsequently convicted him.
She said, “We should allow the law to take effect coupled with the fact that the offence is rampant in the society and the punishment will serve as a deterrent to others.
“I hereby sentence you to 14 years’ imprisonment without option of fine, pursuant to Section 247 (3) of the Penal Code and you have right of appeal within 30 days.”
