Headline

Billionaire Kidnapper: Court Sentences Evans Co-defendant To Five Years

Published

4 years ago

March 11, 2022

An Ikeja Special Offences Court on Friday sentenced Frank Udeme, one of the co-defendants of the convicted billionaire kidnap kingpin, Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans, to five years in Kirikiri Correctional Centre.

Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo sentenced Udeme for selling firearms to Evans after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

The judge ordered that the sentence take effect from the day he was remanded in custody.

“In view of the guilty plea of the third defendant, I hereby find the defendant guilty as charged.

“The defendant is hereby sentenced to five years imprisonment. However, the sentence will take effect from the day the defendant has been in detention which is July 6 2017,” she held.

Earlier, the counsel to the third defendant, Mr A. B. Josiah, had notified the court about the defendant’s change of plea.

NAN reports that the charge was re-read to the defendant and he pleaded guilty to counts six and seven.

Dr Babatunde Martins, the Director of Directorate of Public Prosecution, told the court that the third defendant admitted to having sold two AK47 and 270 AK47 live ammunition to Evans.

Martins said Udeme, who hails from Itan-kotoromu in Ika Local Government of Akwa-Ibom, made a statement on July 7, 2017, admitted to the offence.

The prosecutor said: “He admitted to having met the first defendant and sold two AK47 and 270 AK47 live ammunition to him.

“In his statement, he said he got the weapons from his community.

“According to him, the weapons were given to him by his community to fight the inter-communal crisis.

“Evans sent his driver, Emeka to retrieve the ammunition from him. In his statement, he wrote and I quote ‘ I sold the ammunition to Evans for N400,000 but he only paid me N200,000. Ever since I have not seen him’.’

Martins said the defendant’s statement had been admitted into evidence, adding that the offence contravened Section 9(2) of the Firearms Act and was punishable under Section 27(b) (iii) of the same Act.

“In view of this fact, we urge the honourable court to convict the defendant accordingly,” he said.

However, Josiah in his allocutus, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, noting that the defendant had no prior criminal record.

“My lord, I pray the court to temper justice with mercy, looking at the plea of the defendant which will save the court a lot of stress.

“I also want the court to take into consideration the fact that the defendant has been in detention since July 6, 2017 which is almost the length of his sentence if found guilty.

“I urge my Lord to temper justice with mercy and give the defendant a lenient sentence.

“This is his first offence and he has no previous criminal record,” he said.

NAN reports that Evans, Frank Udeme, Joseph Ikenna and Chiemeka Arinze were arraigned on a seven-count charge of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to kidnap and selling of firearms.

They were alleged to have attempted to kidnap Chief Vincent Obianodo, Chairman of the Young Shall Grow Motors on Aug. 27, 2013.

It was also reported that one of the defendants, Arinze passed away on Nov. 26, 2021, as a result of cardiopulmonary arrest caused by Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

Taiwo adjourned the case until March 28 for the continuation of the trial of the remaining two defendants.

Headline

Court Jails Two For Targeting President With Sorcery

Published

8 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

A Zambian court on Monday sentenced two men to two years in prison with hard labour on charges of attempting to use witchcraft to kill the country’s president.

Mozambican national Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Zambian village chief Leonard Phiri were arrested in December in possession of charms, including a live chameleon.

Police said they planned to use the charms to harm President Hakainde Hichilema, and they were charged with professing knowledge of witchcraft and possession of charms.

“The motive of the crime was to kill the head of state,” magistrate Fine Mayambu ruled in the capital Lusaka on Monday.

“The convicts were not only enemies of the head of state but all Zambians. I therefore sentence them to 24 months imprisonment with hard labour from the date of their arrest,” he said.

The prosecution said the men had been hired by the brother of opposition MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda, who is facing trial for robbery, attempted murder and escaping custody.

Headline

Two Nigerians Face Jail Terms In Liberia’s Piracy Trial

Published

8 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Criminal Court ‘D’ in Monrovia is set to deliver judgment this week in Liberia’s first piracy trial, involving two Nigerian nationals accused of hijacking a cargo vessel in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to court records, the defendants were arrested earlier this year after a Liberia-flagged ship was seized by armed men while transporting goods through international waters. The crew sent a distress signal, prompting international maritime forces to intervene.

The suspects were subsequently transferred to Liberian authorities under global maritime cooperation protocols.

According to Liberia’s news platform, Front Page Africa, the case has attracted attention because Liberia maintains one of the world’s largest open ship registries, yet prosecutions for piracy within its domestic courts have not previously occurred. Under international law, Liberia holds jurisdiction over crimes involving ships registered under its flag.

On Monday, proceedings took a new turn when defense lawyer, Cllr. Bestman Juah, informed the court that the defendants had admitted responsibility for the hijacking and were requesting a plea-bargain arrangement. State prosecutors did not oppose the request, leaving open the possibility of reduced sentences in exchange for full cooperation.

Resident Judge Mameita Jabateh-Sirleaf, who presides over Criminal Court ‘D’, will rule on whether to accept the plea deal and determine the sentencing framework. The ruling could also address deportation measures following imprisonment.

Criminal Court ‘D’ handles cases involving armed robbery, terrorism, hijacking, and other serious crimes, and the piracy trial represents a growing trend of transnational offenses being prosecuted within Liberia’s judicial system.
As of press time, the court has not announced the date for sentencing.

Headline

Spain Cancels $825m Israel Arms Deal Over Gaza

Published

8 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

The Spanish government has cancelled a contract worth nearly 700 million euros ($825 million) for Israeli-designed rocket launchers.

The move comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced last week that his government would “consolidate in law” a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel over its offensive in Gaza.

The contract, awarded to a consortium of Spanish companies, involved the purchase of 12 SILAM rocket launcher systems derived from the PULS platform made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance.

First reported by local media and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the cancellation was formalised on Spain’s official public contracts platform on September 9.

The following day, Sanchez unveiled measures aimed at stopping what his leftist government called “the genocide in Gaza”.

It includes the approval of a decree imposing a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel due to its military offensive in Gaza, launched after the Hamas attacks in October 2023.

Spain applied the ban as Israel stepped up its military onslaught.

Spain has also formalized the cancellation of another contract for 168 anti-tank missile launchers, which were to be manufactured under license from an Israeli company.

That contract, valued at 287 million euros, had been first reported by the press in June.

According to Spanish daily La Vanguardia, the government is undertaking a broader review to phase out Israeli weapons and technology from its armed forces.

Sanchez has emerged as one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Gaza policy.

Relations between the two countries have been tense for months.

Israel has not had an ambassador in Spain since Madrid recognized the state of Palestine in 2024.

Last week, Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel after heated exchanges over Sánchez’s new measures.

The Barcelona-based Delas Centre, a security research institute, estimated in April that since the start of the Gaza war, Spain had awarded 46 contracts worth $1.044 billion to Israeli companies, based on public tender data.