Two face trial over alleged kidnapping, gunpoint robbery

Two unemployed men — Douglas Eze and Vincent Uchenna — who allegedly kidnapped a man and robbed him of N3, 000 at gunpoint, were on Monday remanded in prison on the orders of an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court.
The Chief Magistrate,  A. A. Fashola, who gave the ruling, said the duo should remain in Kirikiri Prisons pending advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions.
He directed that the case file should be duplicated and a copy sent to the DPP.
Eze, 26, is a resident of No. 4, Wetib Road, Abraham Adesanya, Ajah, while Uchenna, 37, lives at No. 23, Bush Bar, Alaguntan, also in Ajah.
The duo is facing a three-count charge bordering on kidnapping and armed robbery.
Earlier, the Police Prosecutor, Sgt. Michael Unah, told the court that the accused and others now at large committed the offences on April 6 about 5.20 p. m. at Plot 10, Adeniyi Close, Lekki, Lagos.
He alleged that the accused kidnapped the complainant, Alvin Onuoha, as he was about to enter his compound, bundled him into a Toyota Camry saloon car and zoomed off to Ajah Bridge.
Unah said: “The accused and others started demanding a sum of N200,000 ransom.”
Unah said the accused robbed the complainant at gunpoint of N3, 000 by forcing him to withdraw from his bank account.
He said: “The accused were apprehended at the point of collecting the N200,000 as ransom from the complainant’s brother.”
The offences violated Sections 271 (3) and 297 (2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Section 297 prescribes 21 years jail term for armed robbery, while Section 411 stipulates 10 years for kidnapping.
The magistrate adjourned the case until July 4.