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A 72-year-old veteran journalist and rights activist, Pa Ahmed Adoke, and 41-year-old mechanic, Mr. John Sule, were on Wednesday arraigned by the Kogi State Police Command for allegedly kidnapping a state High Court judge, Justice Samuel Obayomi.
Adoke, is said to be related to the immediate past Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke.
He and and Sule, together with others now at large, are accused of conspiring and kidnapping the judge at gun point on May 25.
They were arraigned before the Lokoja Chief Magistrate’s Court II presided over by Mr. Alhassan Husaini.
Obayomi, a resident High Court Judge of Ebogogo in the Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State, was abducted by three gunmen, all reportedly dressed in black on May 25. The victim was released after 34 days in captivity.
The judge’s police orderly, Mr. Usman Musa, was shot dead during the operation while the kidnappers drove away the judge in his Toyota Yaris car and later demanded N150m as ransom for the victim’s release.
According to the Police First Information Report made available to journalists in Lokoja, the accused persons wielding AK-47 rifles and locally made pistols disguised themselves and waylaid the judge on Ebogogo road, close to the court premises.
The FIR, which was read by the Prosecuting Police Officer, Mr. C.S. Ayabatu, said that the gang instantly shot Musa, who died on the spot.
They allegedly took the judge to an unknown destination only to release him after allegedly collecting a ransom.
The FIR added that the accused were arrested on June 6, by a team of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad from Abuja and brought to the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Lokoja.
According to Ayabatu, the two accused persons all from Okene in Okene LGA of Kogi State, were charged with criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and kidnapping contrary to sections 97(1) and 221 of the Penal Code Law and Part 1 section 3(a)(i)(ii) of the state Kidnapping, Thuggery and Other Related Offences Prohibition Law 2010.
The Chief Magistrate, Husain, in his ruling refused the accused persons bail and ordered that they be remanded at the Federal Prisons, Koton-Karfe.