Kidnapper Of Margaret Emefiele Dies In Custody

Ade Adesomoju , Abuja
A suspect, Umar Abubakar , who , in September
2016 , allegedly led four others to kidnap
Margaret, the wife of the Governor, Central
Bank of Nigeria , Mr. Godwin Emefiele , has died
in police custody .
Abubakar , also known as Kerewa , was said to
have died due to the injuries he sustained
during a gun duel with policemen in his bid to
evade arrest last year .
The deceased as well as Mohammed Yusuf ,
Edwin George , Musa Maidabara , and Ernest
Uduefe , was to be arraigned before Justice
Babatunde Quadri of the Federal High Court in
Abuja on Tuesday.
But the arraignment could not proceed due to
Abubakar ' s death , which the lead prosecuting
counsel , Mr. Aminu Alilu , announced to the
judge during the proceedings .
Alilu of the Office of the Attorney General of the
Federation, said , " This charge was filed on
October 7 , 2017 , but on October 24, we were
informed of the demise of the first accused who
died as a result of injuries he sustained while in
the course of exchanging gunfire with the police
. "
Justice Quadri directed Alilu , an Assistant Chief
State Counsel in the Office of the Attorney
General of the Federation, to amend the
charges to reflect the new set of defendants.
He then adjourned until December 14 for the
arraignment of the surviving defendants .
In the five counts filed against the defendants ,
the prosecution alleged that the late Abubakar
and the four other defendants took hostage of
Margaret along with others in her entourage –
Odion Anthony , Ngozi Omoile , Uju Anthony
and Gladys Omoile – at Ugoneki village , along
the Benin/ Asaba Expressway on September 28,
2016 .
The AGF filed five counts under the Terrorism
(Prevention ) (Amendment ) Act 2013 against the
alleged kidnappers.
The defendants were said to have demanded N
100 m ransom from the victims ' family
members , but upon negotiation , reduced the
ransom to N 80 m , which they allegedly took
before releasing the victims .
All the five defendants were named in counts
one to three which have to do with conspiracy
and hostage taking .
But the trio of George , Maidabara, and Uduefe,
were accused in count four of aiding and
abetting the act of hostage taking .