A Kogi State High Court has sentenced Jibrin Halilu to death by hanging for kidnapping and murdering his neighbour, Uche Andrew Offo, proprietor of Ever Ready Hotel in Obajana, even after collecting ₦2.5 million ransom from the victim’s family. The judgment was delivered on Tuesday by trial judge Abdul Nicodemus Awulu.
Halilu was convicted on charges of conspiracy and kidnapping, offences that contravened sections 12, 6(1), and 4(3)(a) of the Kogi State Kidnapping and Other Related Offences Prohibition Law, 2023. The court found that his direct involvement and betrayal of trust aggravated the crime beyond ordinary abduction.
According to the Department of State Services prosecutor, Halilu and members of an armed gang stormed Ever Ready Hotel, Angwa-Tiv, Obajana town, on March 23, 2023, and abducted Offo at gunpoint. The kidnappers immediately demanded ransom, forcing the family into frantic negotiations while Offo remained in captivity.
The prosecution told the court that Offo’s family complied fully with the kidnappers’ demand and paid the ₦2.5 million ransom as instructed. Despite receiving the money, the gang executed Offo, ending any hope of his release and turning the abduction into a murder case.
A DSS source revealed the chilling motive behind the killing: while in captivity, Offo recognised Halilu as his neighbour. Fearing identification and prosecution, the kidnappers decided to eliminate him. “The recognition sealed his fate,” the source said, describing it as a calculated act to cover their tracks.
Investigations by the DSS further linked Halilu and the same gang to another high-profile abduction on April 2, 2023. The group kidnapped Ibrahim Abdullahi, a resident of Oshokoshoko community in Lokoja, and collected a ₦5 million ransom from his family before releasing him.
In delivering judgment, Justice Awulu held that Halilu’s actions represented a gross violation of societal trust and the laws protecting life and personal liberty. The judge said the death sentence was intended to serve as deterrence to others involved in kidnapping and violent crime across Kogi and Nigeria.
The conviction adds to a recent string of capital punishments for violent crimes. In Katsina, a high court sentenced Hauwa’u Mukhtar, a female arms courier, to death by hanging for conspiracy to aid terrorism after her arrest by DSS operatives. In June, a Federal High Court in Abuja also convicted four persons over the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
Security analysts say the wave of convictions reflects increased collaboration between the DSS, police, and the judiciary in tackling kidnapping and terrorism. For residents of Obajana and Lokoja, the sentence brings closure to families traumatised by the gang’s operations, though questions remain about how such networks are formed and funded.
