From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Department of State Services (DSS), yesterday, in Imo State, arraigned three people accused of involvement in the Independence Day kidnapping of 20 prospective Youth Corp members in the state.
Also arraigned were two other suspects accused of kidnapping four people in the state, four days after the Independence Day abduction.
The five defendants face charges of conspiracy, hostage-taking, and unlawful possession of firearms.
Three of them, Usman Aliyu, 25, also known as Chonge; 21-year-old Babangida Aliyu, and 23-year-old Mohammed Ali, aka Smallie Pepper, are specifically charged with the kidnapping of the prospective corps’ members. They were charged with conspiracy to take hostage, punishable under Section 6 of the Imp State Prohibition of Hostage Taking and Related Offences Law No. 4 of 2009.
The DSS prosecutors accused the trio and others still at large of abducting the victims along the Owerri–Mgbidi–Onitsha Expressway on Independence day. They were travelling from Ibadan to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. They were later rescued after seven days.
According to the charge sheet filed at the Imo State High Court, Oru Judicial Division, Mgbidi, the defendants were accused of unlawfully possessing three AK-47 rifles, four magazines, a pistol, and 81 rounds of live ammunition.
In a related case, 27-year-old Aminu Haliru and 20-year-old Tange Ibrahim aka Jijji, are accused of abducting four people around Owerri and Mgbidi on October 4.
Prosecutors allege that Haliru, Ibrahim and others still at large collected N81 million to release the four victims. They also face a charge of unlawfully possessing one AK-47 rifle and a pump-action gun. The prosecution listed N1.8 million as money recovered in the second case, while a DSS investigator and the victims are listed as witnesses in both cases.