Six women were, yesterday, arraigned before a Lokoja Chief Magistrate Court over their alleged involvement in the kidnap of two children of Kogi State House of Assembly Speaker, Alhaji Momoh-Jimoh Lawal.The accused persons include Bilikis Lawal, Raliat Musa, Rabiyat Mohammed, Zainab Ismaila, Aminat Ibrahim and Nafisat Abdullahi.They were charged with criminal conspiracy and kidnapping contrary to Section 97 of the Penal Code Law and Sections 3(a) and 7(a) of the Kogi State Kidnapping, thuggery and other Related Offences (Prohibition) Law 2010.
The prosecution led by Mohammed Abaji told the court that a gang of four persons armed with sophisticated weapons invaded the residence of the Speaker on April 15, 2014, and kidnapped two of his sons, Hafiz Lawal, 3, and Ogirima Lawal, 6. The two children are yet to be recovered.He said the abductors forcefully took the children away in their mother’s car, a dark-blue Toyota Yaris with number plate, Lagos AKD 224 AY, and latter demanded N200 million ransom for the release of the children using the hand set and telephone number of the first accused, Mrs Bilikisu Wahab.He further said investigation carried out by security agencies led to the arrest of five other suspects, even as some other suspects were still at large.
Lead counsel to the accused persons, Miss Safiya Abdullahi, orally applied for bail of her clients but Abaji opposed the application, asking the court to take cognizance of the severity of the offence.
In her ruling, the Chief Magistrate, Alhassan Hussain refused to grant the accused persons bail, saying: “These offences are by no means weighty, pandemic and on a steady rise of late. I refuse this application and it is hereby refused.”Hussain, therefore, ordered that the accused be remanded in the Department of State Services, DSS, detention facility in Lokoja and adjourned the case to June 4. What must they have done with these kids? I wish I know.
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