An Anambra State High Court sitting in Onitsha has sentenced Kosisochukwu Celestine to death by hanging after convicting him of kidnapping and armed robbery in connection with the 2022 abduction of a resident who was robbed and forced to transfer millions of naira to his captors.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Sylvester Odili of High Court No. 4, Onitsha Judicial Division.
The court heard that Celestine and members of his gang attacked Mr. Chukwudi Collins at gunpoint in the Fegge area of Onitsha on August 6, 2022. The gang reportedly abducted the victim, inflicted injuries on him, threatened his life, and forced him to transfer about N6.7 million from his bank account while in captivity.
According to the prosecution, the assailants also dispossessed the victim of his vehicle and other valuables before holding him hostage for nearly 24 hours and later abandoning him.
Investigations by security operatives eventually led to the tracking of the convict to Enugu State. After evading arrest for about six months, he was later apprehended in Onitsha.
During the trial, the prosecution team, led by Chief State Counsel Ekwerekwu Uchenna, alongside Principal State Counsels Rosemary Uwaeze and S.I. Mmaduelosi, presented three witnesses and tendered several exhibits, including bank records that showed payments made before the victim’s release.
The defence called two witnesses and challenged the admissibility of the defendant’s confessional statement, arguing that it failed to comply with Section 14 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) of Anambra State, 2022, which requires confessional statements to be video-recorded.
Although Celestine initially confessed to participating in the crimes, he later retracted the statement during the trial. The court subsequently struck out the confession after determining that it was not recorded in compliance with the law.
Despite excluding the confessional statement, Justice Odili held that the prosecution successfully established the defendant’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt through eyewitness accounts, documentary evidence, bank records, and other independent exhibits.
Consequently, the court convicted Celestine on charges of kidnapping and armed robbery and sentenced him to death by hanging.
