Abuja Court Sentences Kidnap Kingpin, Wadume To Seven Years Imprisonment

A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced a suspected kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Bala, also known as Wadume, to seven years imprisonment.

Wadume Sentenced To Jail

The kidnap kingpin was charged alongside Aliyu Dadje, a police inspector, Auwalu Bala, Uba Bala, Bashir Wazlri, Zubairu Abdullahi and Rayyanu Abdul.

The trial Judge, Justice Binta Nyako, in a judgement delivered on July 22 convicted Wadume on counts two and 10 of the 13-count charge brought against him and six others by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) on behalf of the Federal Government.

In the judgement, sighted in Abuja, Wadume was specifically convicted for escaping from lawful custody and unlawfully dealing in prohibited firearms.

Other defendants in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/30/2020 are: Aliyu Dadje (a police inspector), Auwalu Bala (aka omo razor), Uba Bala (aka Uba Delu), Bashir Wazlri (aka baba runs), Zubairu Abdullahi (aka Basho) and Rayyanu Abdul.

Justice Nyako also convicted and sentenced Inspector Dadje to three years on count seven, in which he was accused of tampering with Police record to conceal a crime.

Dadje, who was a Station Officer at the Ibi Divisional Police Headquarters, Ibi Local Government Area, Taraba State was said to have, in August 2019 willfully, “Tampered with the entry made by the leader of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IGP IRT), Insp. Felix Adolije, by tearing off the entry page to cover up for Captain Tijani Ahmed Balarabe and his team”, when he knew that an offence of terrorism had been committed by Capt. Balarabe and his team, who attacked and killed three members of the team and two civilians who were in Ibi, Taraba State to make lawful arrest.

The Judge equally convicted and sentenced Uba Bala (aka Uba Delu) and Zubairu Abdullahi (aka Basho) to seven years each on counts three, four, five, six and 11. The duo was, in the four counts, charged with illegal possession and unlawful dealing in prohibited firearms and ammunition.

Justice Nyako also convicted and sentenced Abdul to three years for harbouring Wadume in his house in Kano after Wadume’s escape from police custody in Ibi and struck out count one, in which Wadume was charged with kidnaping Usman Garba (aka Mayo) and collecting N106 million before releasing him.

The Judge however discharged and acquitted Auwalu Bala (aka Omo Razor) and Bashir Wazlri (aka Baba Runs), who were listed as the 3rd and 5th defendants, for want of evidence.

This comes three years after Wadume was arrested by the intelligence response team (IRT) of the inspector-general of police but escaped when soldiers opened fire on the team in 2019.

Three policemen and a civilian were shot dead in the incident before Wadume was later re-arrested at his hideout in the Layin Mai Allo Hotoro area of Kano state.