David Isaiah, 26, was sentenced to death by hanging on Monday by the Ado Ekiti Division of the Ekiti State High Court for kidnapping and using herbicide to kill Comfort James, a commercial sex worker.
Isaiah and his buddy, Saviour Daniel, were accused of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder; Daniel passed away while the case was pending.
He was found guilty on three counts that bordered on murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy.
Although he was given a death sentence for murder, the court also sentenced him to 21 years in prison for conspiracy and life in prison for kidnapping.
According to the allegation, “The defendant and Saviour Daniel, who passed away in Ado Ekiti on February 6, 2024, while the case was pending, did conspire to kidnap and murder one Comfort James, a commercial sex worker.”
The defendant was arraigned on April 18, 2024, and the prosecutor, Ibironke Odetola, informed the court that the offenses he had committed “are contrary to sections 280, 279 (a) and 234 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.”
The director of Afrika Brothel, Irona, Ado Ekiti, testified in court, saying, “Other commercial sex workers at the brothel called me and reported they hadn’t seen the victims (sex workers) since the day before.The missing sex worker was said to have called to inform her colleagues that she had been kidnapped and that the kidnappers were demanding N100,000 ransom.
“I brought the issue to the attention of the Civil Defense office and the police station. They were apprehended after their phone lines were traced. They led Civil Defense Officers to the location where the sex worker was killed and his body was discarded.
Odetola introduced six witnesses and presented exhibits that included the defendants’ statements, photographs of the deceased, a warrant to bury the body, a pair of slippers, SIM cards, and herbicide.
Speaking on his own behalf, the defendant informed the court that “we used her number to call her colleagues after having sex with the deceased to inform them that she had been kidnapped and demanded a ransom of N100,000.”
“Her hands and neck were tied all along, but when the ransom was not forthcoming and on realising that she had seen our faces clearly, to avoid being implicated, we poured herbicide in her mouth and she later died, the defendant said as he called no witness.”
Delivering his judgment, Justice Olalekan Olatawura said the prosecution had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant conspired with his late friend (Saviour Daniel) to kidnap and murder Comfort James.
The judge said, “Consequent upon the foregoing, the defendant is found guilty as charged. Any sympathetic consideration in favour of the defendant cannot, therefore, be justified.
“Consequently, the defendant is sentenced to 21 years imprisonment for conspiracy, life imprisonment for kidnapping and for murder, the judgment of this court upon you is that, you be hanged by the neck until you be dead, may God have mercy on your soul.”
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