A High Court in Kogi State has sentenced a convicted kidnapper to death for the abduction and murder of his neighbour, nearly three years after the victim was seized from his hotel in Obajana and killed despite the payment of a N2.5 million ransom.
The convict, Jibrin Halilu, was found guilty by Justice Abdul Nicodemus Awulu of conspiracy and kidnapping, offences punishable under Sections 12, 6(1) and 4(3)(a) of the Kogi State Kidnapping and Other Related Offences Prohibition Law, 2023.
The court subsequently imposed the death penalty on Halilu after concluding that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Halilu was prosecuted following investigations by the Department of State Services (DSS), which linked him to the March 23, 2023 abduction of hotel proprietor, Uche Andrew Offo, in Obajana, Kogi State.
According to the prosecution, armed men stormed Everready Hotel in the Angwa-Tiv area of Obajana and whisked Offo away to an unknown location.
Although the victim’s family later paid a N2.5 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers, Offo was not released. Instead, he was killed by his captors.
A source familiar with the investigation said DSS operatives arrested Halilu on December 4, 2025, after months of intelligence gathering and surveillance.
The source disclosed that investigations revealed that the deceased had recognised Halilu, his neighbour, among the gang members holding him captive.
According to the source, “DSS investigations revealed that, while with his abductors, Offo was able to identify Halilu, who happened to be his neighbour, as being part of those who kidnapped him.
“That was when Halilu, despite the N2.5 million ransom he collected from Offo’s family, still killed him.”
The source further disclosed that investigators uncovered evidence linking Halilu and members of his gang to another kidnapping operation carried out in Lokoja in April 2023.
“Further investigations by the DSS also linked Halilu and his gang to the April 2, 2023 kidnapping of one Ibrahim Abdullahi, a resident of Oshokoshoko Community in Lokoja, from whom the gang collected a N5 million ransom,” the source said.
The latest conviction comes barely 24 hours after a Katsina State High Court sentenced a female arms courier arrested by the DSS to death, and less than two weeks after a Federal High Court in Abuja imposed the death penalty on four men convicted for their roles in the June 5, 2022 terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
Security analysts say the recent convictions signal a growing determination by law enforcement agencies and the judiciary to ensure that perpetrators of kidnapping, terrorism and other violent crimes face the full weight of the law.
For residents of Obajana, however, the judgment is expected to provide a measure of closure in a case that shocked the community and underscored the devastating human cost of kidnapping-for-ransom operations across the country.
