Court sentences mastermind of Kano children abduction to 104 years in prison

The Kano high court, presided over by Justice Zuwaira Yusuf, on Friday sentenced Paul Onwe, the mastermind behind the kidnap of nine children in the state, to 104 years in prison.

The court also fined Onwe the sum of N100,000 for conspiring with six accomplices to kidnap the children, who are under 10 years, from Kano and sell them in Onitsha, Anambra state.

Onwe was arrested in 2019 for abducting, selling and forcefully converting the children to Christianity.

At the proceeding on Friday, the judge found Onwe guilty of the 38 count-charge filed against him.

Delivering the judgment, Yusuf categorised the offences into three classifications.

In the first category, the court found Onwe guilty on counts 2, 8, 9, 2, 27 and 34, thereby sentencing him to seven years on each of the counts.

Similarly, the court found him guilty on counts 3, 5, 10, 11, 22, 28 and 38, sentencing to seven years on each.

Yusuf also held that the accused was found guilty of counts 4, 12, 13, 29 and 38, and she therefore convicted him to four years on each count without an option of fine.

She ordered that all the counts shall run concurrently and ordered the remand of the six other defendants in the case for continuation of trial.

The other defendants are Mercy Paul, Ebere Ogbono, Emmanuel Igwe, Loise Duru, Monica Oracha and Chinelo Ifedigwe.