A Bayelsa State High Court, Ogbia judicial division, sitting in Yenagoa, has sentenced a 39 year old man to death by firing squad.
The defendant, Charles Nikson was convicted and sentenced for his involvement in the November 2020 thwarted abduction of Vivian Okoye, wife of a popular businessman and a medical practitioner in Bayelsa State.
Nikson, who was the driver to the kidnapping gang, was arraigned before the Ogbia High Court on the two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping.
He was arraigned at the court with another suspect, David Ekegima. Ekegima was eventually discharged and acquitted.
The Presiding Judge, Justice Raphael Ajunwa, while delivering the judgement on the matter, found Charles Nikson guilty of the two charges.
According to her: “On the charge of conspiracy, there is no specific term for the charge. And I hereby sentence you to 10 years imprisonment.”
NewsWireNGR gathered that the victims were kidnapped at about 7.30pm by 7 armed men.
The kidnappers, according to the victims, arrived in a white Hilux vehicle with registration number GBB 30 FS and were dressed in Military and Police camouflarge, ‘ they drove away with their victims towards the Onuebum waterside in Ogbia area where a getaway boat were stationed.’
“Series of Save-our-Soul messages were sent out to the emergency lines of the State Commissioner of Police and the Operation Puff Adder led by DSP Chris Nwaogbo.The swift response by a gallant team of the security outfit led to the shootout along Iminringi road.’
“One policeman was injured by a bullet grazing his shoulder, while the kidnappers abandoned their vehicle and the victims. They ran into the Ogbia bush. The bullet-ridden Hilux of the kidnappers has been recovered,” a relative told journalists.
A shootout between men of the Operation Puff Adder of the Bayelsa State Police Command and the Seven-man kidnapping gang eventually happened along the Iminringi areas of Ogbia Local Government Council of the State, leading to the rescue of Vivian Okoye.
