The Chief Judge of Taraba, Justice Joel Agya, delivered a verdict on Friday sentencing Yusufa Adamu and Adamu Abdullahi to death by hanging for the kidnapping of Balkisu Kambe and Maryam Musa in Gashaka Local Government of the state. Agya stated that the prosecution had convincingly proven its case.
The duo was found guilty of the crime committed in 2019, with Musa kidnapped on September 2, 2019, in Serti, and Kambe kidnapped at Angwan America in Baruwa on September 29, 2019. They were also convicted of criminal conspiracy and illegal possession of firearms, receiving additional sentences of 10 years each without the option of a fine.
The judge emphasized that the sentences for criminal conspiracy and illegal possession of firearms would be retroactive to 2019 when they were apprehended. Notably, the convicts had made confessional statements and collected ransom from their victims.
Despite pleas for leniency from the defense counsel, the judge upheld the death sentence, citing the Kidnapping and Abduction Law of Taraba 2019. He, however, acknowledged the convicts' right to appeal to the Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy for a commutation of the sentence to life imprisonment, especially since no lives were lost during the kidnappings.
The prosecution hailed the judgement as sound and commendable, while the defense had pleaded for mercy, citing the convicts' first-time offender status and expressions of remorse throughout the trial.
