Breaking: Sarkin Fulani, two others bag life imprisonment for kidnapping in Kwara

A Kwara high court sitting in Ilorin on Thursday, November 30, sentenced Usman Ado, the Sarkin Fulani of the state, and two others to life imprisonment.

The three convicted men were sentenced to life in jail for kidnapping, according to TVC News.

Ado and two others were arrested and charged to court on a two-count charge of conspiracy to abduct and kidnapping. They kidnapped one Abubakar Ahmad and collected a ransom of one million naira before his eventual release after 20 days in captivity.

The kidnap incident happened in Kwara state in the middle of 2022. The kidnapping was reportedly perpetrated in conjunction with a soldier who is now at large.

In her judgement, Justice Adenike Akinpelu said that the trio were all in agreement to commit a crime, adding whether they were physically present at the kidnap scene was immaterial. She lamented that community leaders charged with the welfare of their subjects could, because of the love of money, breach the security of the same subjects.

Ado’s title, Sarkin, means a powerful or influential person.

Justice Akinpelu therefore pronounced: “By Section 15 of the Lead state anti kidnapping law, the court cannot exercise any discretion of leniency, so you are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment. The sentence is to run concurrently.”