DSS Arraigns Five Suspected Kidnappers of 20 Youth Corps Members, Others

The Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday arraigned five men before the Imo State High Court over the alleged kidnapping of 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and four other persons in the state.
Three of the defendants, Usman Aliyu, 25, also known as Chonge; Babangida Aliyu, 21; and Mohammed Ali, 23, aka Smallie Pepper, were arraigned over the abduction of the prospective corps members on Independence Day.
The remaining two defendants, Aminu Haliru, 27, and Tange Ibrahim, 20, aka Jijji, were accused of kidnapping four persons on October 4.
The five defendants face charges bordering on conspiracy, hostage-taking and unlawful possession of firearms.
According to the prosecution, the three defendants in the first case, alongside other suspects still at large, allegedly abducted the prospective corps members along the Owerri–Mgbidi–Onitsha Expressway on October 1.
The victims were reportedly travelling from Ibadan to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when they were kidnapped. They were rescued after seven days.
The defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, punishable under Section 6 of the Imo State Prohibition of Hostage Taking and Related Offences Law No. 4 of 2009.
According to the charge sheet filed at the Imo State High Court, Oru Judicial Division, Mgbidi, the defendants were also accused of unlawfully possessing three AK-47 rifles, four magazines, a pistol and 81 rounds of live ammunition.
In the second case, prosecutors alleged that Haliru, Ibrahim and others still at large kidnapped four persons around Owerri and Mgbidi on October 4.
The prosecution further alleged that the defendants collected N8 million as ransom for the release of the victims.
They also face charges 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.
A DSS investigator and the victims were listed as witnesses in both cases.