Amotekun arraigns three over Ondo woman’s kidnap, murder

By Boye Oyeyemi

Three men have been arraigned before an Akure Magistrate’s Court over their alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of a woman in the Oke Igbo area of Ondo State, where the abductors reportedly demanded a N100 million ransom.

The defendants, identified as Muhammadu Ali, Abubakar Sodiq and Yusuf Muhammed, were brought before the court by the Ondo State Security Network Agency, popularly known as Amotekun Corps, on a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy, kidnapping and murder.

According to the prosecution, the defendants, alongside other accomplices who are still at large, allegedly carried out the attack at about 3am on August 3, 2026, around Gberinlegi, along the Ondo-Ile-Ife Road in Oke Igbo.

During the incident, the suspects allegedly abducted two persons, identified as Adetan Adebanjo and a woman known as Mama Oke-Igbo, before demanding N100 million from their relatives as ransom.

However, the prosecution further alleged that Mama Oke-Igbo was killed by the abductors during the operation, while the defendants were subsequently linked to the offences.

The prosecuting counsel, P.O. Nwafor, told the court that the charges contravened Section 6 and Sections 3(i), (ii) and (iii) of the Ondo State Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Abduction Law, 2010, as well as Section 316(3) of the Criminal Code Law, punishable under Section 319.

Consequently, Nwafor urged the court to remand the defendants in a correctional facility pending legal advice from the director of Public Prosecutions, citing the gravity of the allegations against them.

In response, defence counsel, I.R. Ogundara, sought an adjournment to enable him to file a counter-affidavit challenging the prosecution’s application for the defendants’ remand.