Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Abak has sentenced a 59-year-old man and father of seven, Pius Udo Ben to death by hanging for kidnapping a four-year-old boy, who has not been found till today.
Udo Ben, a native of Ikot Use Ekong in Eket Local Government Area was convicted yesterday by the trial judge, Justice Eno Isangedighi.
He was standing trial with one Emmanuel Dickson Assam, a 62-year-old carpenter, who was charged with aiding him to escape, an offense which is contrary to Section 12 subsection B of Akwa Ibom State Internal Security and Enforcement Law, 2009.
The particulars of the case show that the kidnapped boy was sleeping in his mother’s shop at Iko Eket in Eket LGA, where the convict who came with a motorcyclist, now at large, tricked his 11-year-old sister into leaving the shop to search for change for iced fish of N100.
The victim’s sister returned without seeing her brother and the kidnapper, who left behind the iced fish he pretended to come to buy from the shop.
The incident occurred on 5th June 2014, and as the then village head-elect of Iko Eket, summoned the entire villagers for a parade, the sister of the missing boy was able to identify the kidnapper among the crowd.
Delivering her judgement that lasted for one hour, Justice Eno Isangedighi said she had read the addresses of the defense and the prosecution against the background of the facts adduced in evidence what she described as “straightforward”.
The trial judge discharged and acquitted the second accused, Emmanuel Dickson Assam for lack of evidence and found the first accused, Pius Udo Ben guilty of kidnapping and sentenced him to death by hanging.
She held that “whether the four-year-old boy is alive or not, the clue lies with the convict, who from the fact of the case, has decided to keep mum and face the consequences alone. He may well not be alive again or is being raised in a strange environment to be who God did not create him to be.
” Whatever happens, it is expected that justice must be done. I have listened to the allocutus of the first defendant and considered the passionate plea for mercy by the defense counsel.
“I have also double-checked the provisions of the law to see whether it allows any latitude for discretion on the Court during sentencing, what I find is very clear and it states that “any person who contravenes subsection 1 of Akwa Ibom State Internal Security and Enforcement Law, 2009 commits an offence and shall on conviction, be liable to be sentenced to death.
“Very sadly, the Court has no discretion for power to lessen the sentence. Had there been such discretion, the Court would have taken into consideration, the fact that the first defendant has been in custody for about 10 years. But as it stands, I am powerless to do so.
“The sentence of this Court upon you, Pius Udo Ben is that, you are hereby sentenced to death . You shall be hanged on the neck until you die. May the Lord have mercy on your soul”.
