•Police Inspector, another get three years each
Alex Enumah
In a ruling that has led many bewildered, Justice Binta Nyako of a Federal High Court, Abuja, has handed down a seven years jail term to an alleged kidnap kingpin, Mr Hamisu Bala, aka Wadume.
Nyako handed down the sentence after finding him guilty of charges relating to escaping from lawful custody as well as illegal dealings in prohibited firearms.
Aside Wadume, the court also jailed Uba Bala (aka Uba Delu) and Zubairu Abdullahi (aka Basho) for seven years each while Aliyu Dadje, an Inspector of Police bagged three years.
They and three others were all arraigned on a 13-count criminal charge bordering on unlawful possession of prohibited firearms and ammunition and tampering of documents amongst others.
They were all in 2020 arraigned by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) on behalf of the federal government.
The remaining defendants in the case marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/30/2020 were Auwalu Bala (aka omo razor), Bashir Waziri (aka baba runs) and Rayyanu Abdul.
Delivering judgment on July 22, the court upheld the case of the prosecution team, which included Mr Labaran Magaji and Mrs. Yetunde Cole, as it related to five out of the seven defendants.
While the court found Wadume guilty on counts two and 10, it convicted and sentenced Uba Bala (aka Uba Delu) and Zubairu Abdullahi (aka Basho) on counts three, four, five, six and 11.
Bala and Abdullahi, in the four counts, were charged with illegal possession and unlawful dealing in prohibited firearms and ammunition.
However, the court struck out count one, in which Wadume was charged with kidnaping one Usman Garba (aka Mayo) and collecting N106million before releasing him.
Meanwhile the court found Inspector Dadje guilty on count seven, wherein he was accused of tampering with police record to conceal a crime and subsequently sentenced him to three years imprisonment.
Dadje, who was a Station Officer at the Ibi Divisional Police Headquarters, Ibi Local Government Area, Taraba State was said to have, in August 2019, “willfully tampered with the entry made by the leader of the IGP IRT team, Inspector Felix Adolije, by tearing off the entry page to cover up for Captain Tijani Ahmed Balarabe and his team”, knowing that an offence of terrorism had been committed by Capt. Balarabe and his team, who attacked and killed three members of the IGP IRT team and two civilians, who were in Ibi, Taraba State to make lawful arrest.
Also handed down a three-year jail term for harbouring Wadume in his house in Kano after his escape from police custody in Ibi was Rayannu Abdul.
She, however, discharged and acquitted Auwalu Bala (aka Omo Razor) and Bashir Waziri (aka Baba Runs), who were listed as the 3rd and 5th defendants, for want of evidence.
