A Bayelsa State High Court in Yenagoa has sentenced two men to death by hanging for kidnapping Mrs. Grace Omietimi, the mother of Dr. James Omietimi, the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Center in Yenagoa.
Felix Oburu and Anthony Kio Eligwe were found guilty of kidnapping the victim and keeping her prisoner for weeks before letting her go.
The court heard that the two men worked with other criminals, who are still on the loose, to commit the crime.
Oburu is from the Omoku Community in the Ogba/Egbema Local Government Area, and Eligwe is from the Oyigba Community in the Ahoada West Local Government Area, both in Rivers State.
The proceedings say that Omietimi was kidnapped on September 17, 2017, and taken to Oyigba Community, where she was kept for weeks.
Her family paid a ransom, and she was finally let go.
The Department of State Services later caught the suspects after operations based on intelligence tracked their movements and actions.
Justice Matilda A. Ayemieye, the Chief Judge of Bayelsa State, upheld the prosecution’s case and found the defendants guilty as charged on Thursday.
After that, the court gave both men the death penalty by hanging.
The prosecution called Grace Omietimi to the stand during the trial, and she told them everything that happened to her while she was in captivity.
She said that Anthony Kio Eligwe, the second defendant, was the person who kept her in his home the whole time.
The Investigating Officer from the DSS Bayelsa State Command backed up her story by explaining how the suspects were tracked down and arrested.
The decision ends a case that has been going on for years and makes it clear that the courts are against kidnapping and other crimes like it.
