Justice Lekan Olatawura of the Ekiti State High Court, sitting in Ado Ekiti, has sentenced 26-year-old David Isaiah to death by hanging for conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder.
The convict was arraigned before Justice Lekan Olatawura on 18th April 2024 on a three-count charge of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder.
According to the prosecutor, the offenses are contrary to Sections 280, 279(a), and 234 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.
The charge reads that the defendant and Saviour Daniel, who died during the pendency of the case on 6th February 2024 in Ado Ekiti, within the jurisdiction of the honourable court, conspired to kidnap and murder one Comfort James, a commercial sex worker.
In his testimony before the court, the Director of Afrika Brothel, Irona, Ado Ekiti said, “I was called by other commercial sex workers in the brothel, that they have not seen the deceased since yesterday, and also said, she had called to inform them that she had been kidnapped, with her hands tied by her abductors who were demanding a ransom of N100,000.
“I went and reported the matter at the police station and later at the Civil Defence office. Their telephone lines were tracked, and they were later arrested; they took the Civil Defence Officers to where they dumped her dead body after killing her,” he concluded.
To prove his case, the prosecutor, Ibironke Odetola, called six witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statements, pictures of the deceased, a warrant to bury the corpse, a pair of slippers, SIM cards, and herbicide as exhibits. The defendant told the court that, after having sex with the deceased, they used her number to call her colleagues that she had been kidnapped and demanding a ransom of N100,000.
“Her hands and neck were tied when the ransom was not forthcoming, and when we discovered she had seen our faces, to avoid being implicated, we poured herbicide in her mouth, and she later died,” he said.
In his judgement, Justice Olatawura said, “I therefore find that the prosecution has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant conspired with his late friend (Saviour Daniel) to kidnap and murder Comfort James.
“Consequent upon the foregoing, the defendant is found guilty as charged.
Any sympathetic consideration in favour of the defendant cannot, therefore, be justified.
“Consequently, the defendant is sentenced to 21 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy, life imprisonment for kidnapping, and for murder, the judgement of this court upon you is that you be hanged by the neck until you are dead; may God have mercy on your soul.”
