A suspect, Umar Abubakar, who allegedly led a gang to kidnap Margaret, wife of the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has reportedly died in police custody.
It will be recalled that the wife of CBN Governor, Margaret Emefiele was kidnapped in 2016.
The suspect was said to have confessed to investing N3m ransom on a provision store upon arrest.
The suspect, also known as Kiriwa, was reported to have died due to the injuries he sustained during a gun duel with policemen in his bid to evade arrest last year.
The deceased as well as gang members Mohammed Yusuf, Edwin George, Musa Maidabara, and Ernest Uduefe, were due for trial before Justice Babatunde Quadri of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.
The arraignment proceeding was stopped due to Abubakar’s death, which was announced in court by the lead prosecuting counsel, Mr. Aminu Alilu.
Alilu who is of the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, said, “This charge was filed on October 7, 2017, but on October 24, we were informed of the demise of the first accused who died as a result of injuries he sustained while in the course of exchanging gunfire with the police.”
Justice Quadri instructed Alilu, an Assistant Chief State Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, to amend the charges to reflect the new set of defendants.
The judge adjourned the case until December 14 for the arraignment of the surviving defendants.
