An Osun State High Court sitting in
Iwo has sentenced five men who
kidnapped the wife of the Speaker of
the state House of Assembly, Alhaja
Muibat Salaam, to 27 years in prison.
Justice Moshood Adeigbe while
delivering the judgment held that the
prosecutors had been able to prove
beyond reasonable doubt that the
kidnappers met and conspired before
they kidnapped their victim.
The five persons convicted by the
court are: Chukwudi Okereke (40);
Ogbole Ochijile Elijah (25); Lucky
Okonkwo (33); Kaikine Mahah (35);
and Philip Nwadinnor (30).
The judge ruled that each of the five
convicts would spend seven years in
prison for the charge of conspiracy;
he sentenced them to 10 years
imprisonment for the count of
kidnapping; and 10 years for the
charge of unlawful possession of
firearms. He ruled that the jail terms
would run concurrently since the
charges arose from the same crime.
The Speaker’s wife was kidnapped in
Ejigbo, Osun State on October 9, 2012
by men armed with guns while she
was returning home from work.
The judge said, “The confessional
statements were clear that the
accused persons met at Royal Hotel
in Agbor, Delta State where they
planned the kidnap, perfected it in
Lagos and carried it out in Ejigbo.
“The exhibits also showed that the
five accused persons kidnapped the
PW2 (Mrs. Salaam), forced her into a
trailer and dragged her into the bush
on their way to Lagos before men of
the Ogun State Police Command
arrested them. I hold that the
prosecution have established their
case and therefore found the five
accused persons guilty of conspiracy,
kidnapping and unlawful possession
of firearms.”
The prosecution team led by the
Attorney-General and Commissioner
for Justice, Mr. Adewale Afolabi, told
the court that the convicts had
confessed to the kidnapping in the
confessional statements each of
them gave to the police during
investigation.
However, the defence counsel,
Messrs. Sam George and Fredrick
Komolafe had urged the judge to
temper justice with mercy because
the accused persons were married
men with children.
But Justice Adeigbe ruled that the
kidnappers deserved the full
punishment of the law because
kidnapping was a heartless and
condemnable offence.
The defence counsel vowed to appeal
the judgment, saying the confessional
statements were not tested. They
said that the best thing was to have
ordered a trial within trial to be able
to authenticate the statements.
source: http://www.punchng.com/news/osun-speakers-wifes-abductors-jailed-27-years-each/

And yet our politicians that embezzle billions go free. We even celebrate them as accomplished politicians. Different laws for different class of people!