NIGERIA: HIGH COURT IMPOSES DEATH SENTENCE ON MAN ARRESTED FOR KIDNAP, KILLING OF NEIGHBOUR

June 17, 2026:

A High Court of Kogi State, Nigeria, on June 16, 2026 imposed the death penalty on a man prosecuted for kidnapping and murdering his neighbour, who ran a hotel in Obajana.
The Kogi Court, presided by Justice Abdul Nicodemus Awulu, found Jibrin Halilu guilty on the charges of conspiracy and kidnapping, in contravention of Sections 12, 6 (1), and 4 (3)(a) of the Kogi State Kidnapping and Other Related Offences Prohibition Law, 2023.
The court subsequently sentenced Halilu to death.
According to the prosecution, on March 23, 2023, Halilu and other members of his armed gang stormed Everready hotel, Angwa-Tiv, in Obajana town, abducting the proprietor, Uche Andrew Offo.
Even though Offo’s family handed his abductors the N2.5 million ransom they demanded, they, nonetheless, killed him.
The prosecutor told the court that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested Halilu on December 4, 2025.