Two Men Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison For Abducting Widowed Ekiti NYSC Official on Her Late Husband’s Farm

An Ekiti State High Court has brought a multi-year legal battle to a close, sentencing two men to 25 years in prison each for the traumatic abduction of a widowed National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) official.

The ruling, delivered by Justice Lekan Ogunmoye in Ado-Ekiti, marks the end of a painful chapter for the victim, Omoboade Adesina, whose family was systematically targeted by an armed gang. The judgment highlights the heavy psychological toll of rural insecurity while demonstrating how critical eyewitness identification and digital data can be in securing courtroom convictions.

The case presented by the prosecution detailed a truly harrowing sequence of events. In early 2022, Omoboade’s husband, Taiwo Adesina, was ambushed and fatally shot in the head by gunmen while working on his farm. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital. Following days of traditional mourning, the grieving widow visited the farm alongside her son and brother-in-law to assess the property. It was during this vulnerable visit that the gunmen struck again, scaling the perimeter fence, forcing their way inside, and dragging her away on a motorcycle into a dense forest.

The criminals held the NYSC official hostage while using her personal mobile phone to negotiate a ₦10 million ransom with her terrified relatives. After intense negotiations, her family managed to scratch together ₦3.25 million, which was paid to the gang to secure her freedom.

However, the kidnappers made a critical mistake during her time in captivity. They allowed her to see their faces clearly—a detail that proved fatal to their defense when the police later rounded up suspects and organized a formal physical parade.

“I could see some of the gunmen’s faces clearly when I was in their captivity and recognized them when they were paraded by the police,” Omoboade courageously told the court during her emotional testimony.

To solidify the case, state prosecutor Kunle-Shina Adeyemo called seven witnesses and submitted critical electronic footprints, including MTN call logs tracking the ransom negotiations, alongside the defendants’ initial statements.

Despite the compelling narrative surrounding the tragic death of the victim’s husband, the court had to separate emotional distress from strict legal evidence. Justice Ogunmoye ruled that the state failed to provide enough forensic or circumstantial proof linking the defendants directly to the initial ambush and killing of Taiwo Adesina. Consequently, the court acquitted the men on the charges of conspiracy and murder, convicting them solely on the kidnapping charge.

The legal clean-up also affected the other co-defendants initially brought before the court in October 2022. The judge completely discharged and acquitted 49-year-old Usman Abubakar, noting that the victim’s testimony did not implicate him in the abduction. Another suspect, 59-year-old Abdulazeez Alebiosu, died while the trial was still active, escaping earthly judgment.

Defense counsel Chris Omokhafe had put up a spirited defense, presenting his clients’ testimonies on the stand but failing to call any independent witnesses to back their alibis. By sending Ibrahim Abubakar, 44, and Abdulahi Abubakar, 41, away for two and a half decades, the Ekiti judiciary has sent a clear message to the syndicates operating in the state’s agricultural corridors: even if the wheels of justice grind slowly, the law will eventually catch up with those who terrorize innocent citizens.