An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has sentenced four men to death for the kidnapping and murder of an Anambra-born businessman, Mr. Chijioke Anyanwu, proprietor of Jon KAMSY Supermarket in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of the state.
The convicts ,Marvelous Ndah (38), Anthony Anthony Akpan (37), Aniema Eshiet (34) and Onyebule Gift Ogbonna (41) , were found guilty of abducting Anyanwu and killing him after collecting a ransom of ₦3 million from his family.
Justice Archibong Archibong, who delivered the judgment, held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, establishing the guilt of the four defendants on charges of conspiracy and kidnapping under the Criminal Code and the Akwa Ibom State Internal Security and Enforcement Law.
According to the court, Anyanwu was abducted on January 25, 2016, in front of his residence in Ikot Abasi. Despite the payment of ransom, he died in captivity under controversial circumstances. His remains were later buried in a shallow grave at Ikot Iyire, Edemaya, Ikot Abasi LGA, where his decomposed body was discovered and exhumed about four months later.
The court also heard evidence linking the same gang to the April 16, 2016 kidnapping of Mrs. Jewel Emem Thomas, a lecturer at Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU), who was abducted from her home along Ikpetim Road, Ikot Abasi, at about 2 a.m.
Despite pleas from her husband to be taken in her place, the kidnappers refused and demanded a ₦2 million ransom, which was delivered on April 19, 2016, at Bolingo Mortuary Road, off Igwuruta, Port Harcourt. After collecting the ransom, the gang abandoned the lecturer near ALSCON Company in Ikot Abasi and gave her ₦80 to transport herself home.
Investigations by the Department of State Services (DSS) led to the arrest of Marvelous Ndah on April 26, 2016, along Abak Road in Uyo. Ndah later confessed to his role in the kidnapping and several other abductions carried out by the gang in 2016. His confession led to the arrest of Akpan and Eshiet.
In his statement, Ndah admitted receiving ₦400,000 as his share of the Anyanwu ransom and participating in at least four kidnapping operations, including those involving a UBA bank staff, a petroleum marketer, and a former councillor in Ikot Abasi LGA, Mr. Emmanuel Obot Inam.
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Akpan also confessed to providing intelligence for the kidnapping of Obot Inam and the AKSU lecturer, admitting he monitored police activity around the victim’s residence and received ₦120,000 from the ransom. Eshiet, on his part, said he guarded the abducted lecturer for five days and collected ₦125,000.
The fourth convict, Onyebule Gift Ogbonna, was found to have actively participated in the criminal operations of the gang.
However, the court discharged and acquitted two other defendants, Uche Success Nwokocha and Chidi Christian Nwokoma, ruling that the prosecution failed to present credible evidence linking them to the kidnapping and murder of Mr. Anyanwu.
