Kidnappers Attack Judge, Prosecutors over Death Sentence

Okon Bassey in Uyo

Four kidnappers sentenced to death by the Uyo High Court in Akwa Ibom State yesterday caused pandemonium in the court, smashing windows and destroying court property immediately their judgment was passed.

In the midst of the confusion, the Presiding Judge of the court, Justice Okon Okon and the prosecuting counsels were shielded to escape as the kidnappers threatened to kill them.

The condemned kidnappers, Bernard Efe Ajomaya, Christian Charles Naya, Daniel West and Shedrach Dick Dala, were said to have fumed furiously and became restless when the Judge pronounced their death sentence.

The convicts created a scene in the open court, after being given the maximum sentence of death as they charged towards the presiding judge who escaped as he could not withstand the threat.

The kidnappers rained abuses on the judge and the prosecuting team, causing chaos within the court vicinity and the Ikot Ekpene road where the court is situated.

For about an hour, the kidnappers refused to leave the courtroom.

Following the development, litigants and lawyers in the other courts within the environment were compelled to run helter-skelter for fear of being attacked.

It was the intervention of the detachment of soldiers and policemen that saved the situation as they escorted the criminals into a waiting prison van. The kidnappers had on May 19, 2015, abducted a medical expert in Uyo, Dr. Usen Bassey from his IniAbasi Clinic, and demanded a N10 million ransom.

They were arrested in Ogoni on their way back to Rivers State with part of the ransom, international passport and financial documents belonging to the medical doctor.