The Kano State High Court has sentenced a man, Paul Owne, to 104 years in prison after convicting him of masterminding the kidnapping of children in Kano for sale in Onitsha, Anambra State
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The judge, Zuwaira Yusuf, also fined Mr Owne N100,000 for conspiring with six other persons for the kidnap of the children who were mostly under five years and teenagers.
The court found Mr Owne guilty of all the 38 charges filed against him by Kano State Government.
Delivering the judgment on Friday, the judge, Mrs Yusuf, found Mr Owne guilty of counts 2, 8, 9, 2, 27 and 34, and sentenced him to seven years for each count without an option of fine, in addition to a fine of N100,000.
Also, the court found him guilty of counts 3, 5, 10, 11, 22, 28 and 38 and also sentenced him to seven years for each.
Mrs Yusuf said all the sentences shall run consecutively
The convict was arraigned before the court alongside five other defendants who pleaded not guilty to all the charges against them. Their own trial is therefore continuing.
TheNigerialawyer had reported in 2019 how the police said nine children were kidnapped in Kano in separate incidents, renamed and sold off in Onitsha, Anambra State.
After their rescue, the police commissioner in Kano, Ahmed Illiyasu, returned the children to their parents after parading the suspects.
Mr Illiyasu said the police busted the syndicate behind the kidnaping and sale of children and arrested eight suspects.
He said the group specialised in kidnapping, concealment and confinement of kidnapped persons, buying and selling of minors and trafficking in persons.
He added that the police carried out the operation in Onitsha following a five-year public outcry in Kano over missing children.
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