A native doctor identified as George Andrew, also known as Sunday Akpan Adede, has been sentenced to death by an Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo, for kidnapping two brothers, Chief Israel Efefiong Utit and Pastor Bassey Utit, News About Nigeria reports.
The native doctor, who was sentenced on Friday, was said to have conspired with others now at large to commit the offence at Nkemba Street in Uyo on November 29, 2015, and harboured the victims in his shrine at Ikot Enua, Ikono, while demanding N50 million as ransom.
The convict was standing trial with the first defendant, Ibe Francis Emeka, on a six-count charge for conspiracy, kidnapping, and armed robbery, for which he was found guilty.
However, the court discharged and acquitted Ibe Emeka over the failure of the prosecution to prove the evidence of kidnapping, armed robbery, and conspiracy against him.
Ibe had claimed that he was invited to Uyo by his friend, Papa, only to be taken to a drinking joint at Nkemba Street in the company of one Ukeme Amos, also known as Bishop, the leader of the kidnapping gang, and Jude Ihemekwa, who was called Method.
In a one-hour judgement on Friday, the trial judge, Justice Gabriel Ette, described Ibe Francis Emeka as an innocent man and a victim who happened to be in the company of the wrong guys in the wrong place and at the wrong time by inadvertence.
“The only difference between him and the other victims was that no ransom was placed on his head. He was, like the main victims, put in the same room with them; that piece of evidence was not debunked. He was precluded from leaving the camp, hence his decision to escape with the victims. If he was a kidnapper, his access and exit would not have been restricted or curtailed, as shown in the evidence.
“The real kidnappers left the camp; he was not allowed freedom of movement. That is why I see him as an innocent victim too.
“He became like Jonathan in the camp of King Saul, his father, who had no reason to die but for filial considerations. The lesson is to not find an innocent man in the camp of the wrong men. I advise him to be careful with those he calls friends.
“Unlike Jonathan, Ibe Francis Emeka won’t die, at least not in my hands. Today, I have the honour of breaking the chains of bondage that held him down for 10 years in the custodial centre. I declare him not guilty indeed of the six-count charge and free him accordingly,” the judge stated.
