Supreme Court Affirms Death by Hanging Sentence for Kidnapper

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Supreme Court has affirmed a death by hanging sentence handed down a convicted Delta-based kidnapper, Chelynor Halim.

The apex court in a unanimous judgement affirmed the death sentence shortly after dismissing Halim’s appeal challenging the judgement of the Court of Appeal, which had affirmed his conviction and subsequent death by hanging by the trial court in 2017.

A five‑member panel of the apex court in their judgement yesterday, held that the appellant’s appeal lacked merit and accordingly dismissed it.

Recall that a High Court in Asaba, Delta State, had in 2017, held that the evidence established Halim’s involvement in armed robbery and kidnapping.

The trial court had heard that the defendant, together with his accomplices, kidnapped one Joan Osemene on February 9, 2014, and took her to an unknown location in Ibusa, Delta State.

Halim, who allegedly slapped the victim and threatened her with a gun, later covered her nose with a cloth containing a substance that caused her to pass out.

At the scene, the gang leader, identified as Edozie Obude, allegedly grabbed the victim by the throat, struck her neck with a metal object, and ordered that she be thoroughly searched.

The victim, who testified during the trial, told the court that after the search the gang seized her ATM card and N10,000 in cash that she had on her.

Subsequently, the gang used the ATM card to withdraw N55,000 from the victim’s account.

According to the victim, her hands and legs were tied and she was taken to another location where the gang abandoned her.

She eventually freed herself and escaped, running until she reached a major road.

There she flagged down a motorcyclist to move farther from the area; that motorcyclist turned out to be the convict.

Upon recognising the convict as one of her attackers, the victim raised the alarm, prompting nearby bystanders to apprehend the motorcyclist before he could flee.

The convict was later handed over to the Department of State Services (DSS), after which he led operatives to his gang’s hideout, where a shootout ensued that resulted in the death of their leader, Obude.

Meanwhile, delivering judgement yesterday, Justice Chioma Nwosu‑Iheme, who read the lead judgement, held that there was no doubt about the appellant’s identity as one of the gang members, and that the evidence adduced at trial established his presence at the scene of the crime.

The apex court dismissed the convict’s appeal marked SC/CR/913/2022, and subsequently upheld his death sentence by hanging.