A Chief Magistrate Court in Kogi State yesterday remanded 14 suspects including a woman in prison for allegedly kidnapping an expatriate, Engr Karanadasa Dorawaka, in April.
The accused persons were charged with criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, culpable homicide and kidnapping, offences that are contrary to Sections 97(1), 298 C, 221 of Penal Code and Section 3(b) of Kogi State Kidnapping, Thuggery and Other Related Offences Prohibition Law 2010.
The prosecutor, C.S. Ayabatu, had told the court that the woman, Habibat Shainab and 13 men on April 4, criminally conspired and armed themselves with sophisticated weapons to commit the crime.
According to him, the suspects who were armed with AK-47 rifles, single barrel guns, Dane guns, axes and other weapons, barricaded Ayere-Ijowa road in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi and kidnapped the expatriate.
The prosecutor further told the court that the suspects shot and killed the expatriate’s police orderly, Cpl Apogu Dzakwa. He said the suspects demanded a N20 million ransom.
He said one Dr Hesekiel Oyedepo identified the suspects as the hoodlums that barricaded Okene-Kabba road while wearing National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) uniforms.
