The Anambra High Court, Onitsha Division, on Thursday sentenced a man, Kosisochukwu Celestine, to death by hanging for kidnapping and armed robbery.

Delivering judgement, Justice Sylvester Odili held that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt through eyewitness testimony, bank records, documentary exhibits and other independent evidence.

The prosecution told the court that Mr Celestine and members of his gang attacked Chukwudi Collins at gunpoint in Fegge, Onitsha, on August 6, 2022.

The prosecution also said that the gang abducted the victim, inflicted injuries on him and compelled him to transfer about N6.7 million from his bank account while in captivity.

It added that the gang also dispossessed the victim of his vehicle and other valuables before holding him hostage for about a day and later abandoning him.

The prosecution said that intensive investigations led to the convict being tracked to Enugu State, where he was eventually arrested in Onitsha after evading arrest for about six months.

During the trial, the prosecution, led by chief state counsel Ekwerekwu Uchenna, alongside principal state counsels Rosemary Uwaeze and S.I. Mmaduelosi, called three witnesses and tendered several exhibits, including bank records showing payments made before the victim’s release.

The defence, which called two witnesses, challenged the admissibility of the defendant’s confessional statement, arguing that it did not comply with Section 14 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law  of Anambra State, 2022, which mandates the video recording of confessional statements.

Although the defendant initially made a detailed confession admitting his involvement in the crimes, he later retracted the statement during the trial. The court subsequently expunged the confessional statement after finding that it was not video-recorded as required by law and declined to rely on it. 

(NAN)