A High Court in Kogi State has sentenced a man to death for kidnapping and killing a hotel owner in Obajana. Justice Abdul Nicodemus Awulu handed down the verdict on Tuesday.
Jibrin Halilu was found guilty of conspiracy and kidnapping under the Kogi State Kidnapping and Other Related Offences Prohibition Law, 2023. He now faces execution by hanging.
Prosecutors told the court that Halilu and armed gang members raided Everready Hotel in Angwa-Tiv on March 23, 2023. They abducted the proprietor, Uche Andrew Offo, that day.
Offo's family paid N2.5 million in ransom to secure his release. But the kidnappers murdered him anyway, the court heard.
The Department of State Services arrested Halilu on December 4, 2025, investigators revealed. Evidence presented at trial linked him directly to the crime.
This conviction comes just days after Katsina State imposed a death sentence on a woman arrested for arms smuggling. The two rulings reflect intensifying judicial action against serious crimes.
An even earlier case set the pattern. A Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced four men to death on June 3, 2026 for the church attack in Owo, Ondo State.
That assault occurred on June 5, 2022 at St. Francis Catholic Church.
Over 40 worshippers died and more than 100 others suffered injuries.
The convicted men are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, and Abdulhaleem Idris. All four will hang for their roles in the terrorist attack.
Courts across Nigeria are now moving swiftly on violent crime cases. Legal observers say these sentences signal zero tolerance for kidnapping, murder, and terrorism.
