An Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo has sentenced a police corporal and a bus conductor to death by hanging for their roles in the 2015 abduction of a secondary school vice principal in Ukanafun Local Government Area.
Delivering judgment, Justice Nsemeke Daniel found Police Corporal Mbazigwe Chinedu Friday and Isaac Eddy Ndeesor guilty of conspiracy, kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms.
The judge decried the lengthy duration of the trial, describing the delay as disturbing.
The prosecution told the court that the victim, Elder Akara Johnson Mendie, Vice Principal of Community Secondary School, Nkek, was abducted on July 5, 2015, at about 3.30pm while returning from church alongside his wife.
Armed men reportedly blocked their vehicle along Urua Akpan Udosen/Ikot Unah Road, seized Mendie and fled with his wife’s handbag, which contained personal documents, including legal papers.
Evidence presented showed that the kidnappers initially demanded N25m but later agreed to accept N200,000.
The ransom was delivered through the victim’s sister, after which he was released in Bori, Rivers State, on July 10, 2015.
Friday, 41, who was attached to MOPOL 57 in Ukana at the time, was said to have admitted coordinating the abduction, claiming he acted on the directive of an unidentified “honourable.” He maintained that the weapon used was not issued by the police and that his accomplices were not officers.
Ndeesor, 28, reportedly assisted investigators in tracking down the corporal. Security operatives recovered a locally made revolver, ammunition, surveillance equipment and several mobile phones from Friday’s residence during a search.
In dismissing the defence’s claims of a set-up, Justice Daniel held that the officer’s explanations were inconsistent and unconvincing.
He queried how a serving policeman could orchestrate the kidnapping of a man returning from worship with his family.
The court subsequently convicted both men on all counts and sentenced them to death by hanging in accordance with the law.
