Jigawa Court Acquits Kidnapper For Insanity

A man convicted of kidnapping a six-year-old boy has been acquitted after the court found he has mental problems.
Jigawa State Ministry of Justice spokesperson Zainab Baba-Santali revealed as much in a statement on Friday.
Ms. Baba-Santali said that SafiyanuRabiu lured four of her neighbors’ children with sweets and kidnapped one of them.
He took the victim to the older sister of the boy’s mother, telling her that his parents had traveled and would return the next day to take him home, the official said.
Mr Rabiu from Sara City Local Government Area in Gwaram, later made a phone call to a neighbour of the boy to inform the father that his son had been abducted. He also demanded a ransom of N700,000, according to the statement.
“The suspect also called the neighbour and demanded N1 million or he would be kidnapped and killed.
“Then he was arrested. On interrogation, he confessed to committing the crime.
“To prove the case, the prosecution called seven witnesses and presented evidence, then closed their case.
“In his own defence, the suspect called three witnesses, including a medical officer from Kazaure psychiatric hospital and submitted proof (medical certificate).
“The court, while passing its sentence, held that the prosecution had successfully proved their case. However, the defendant was able to successfully raise and prove the insanity defence at the time of the crime. Therefore, the court acquitted him,” the statement said.