Police Sergeant arrested for kidnapping colleagues

                                                        
Jacob Akowe, a 41-year-old police sergeant, was one of four accused arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos presided by Justice Mohammed Yunusa, for allegedly kidnapping nine of his colleagues on May 24, 2014, Arepo, a community in Ogun State known for incessant cases of oil pipeline vandalism.

The others arraigned alongside Akowe on a 10-count charge of terrorism are Godwin German, Tamarami Tunwa, and Mayibi Hazeez.

The police prosecutor, Raymon Odion, told the court that Sergeant Akowe led the others to kidnap the police officers including an Assistant Superintendent of Police, four Inspectors and four Corporals, because they were disturbing their illegal oil bunkering activities in the area.

Odion further told the court that Akowe was in league with several vandals and apart from providing security for them, participated in the bunkering and kidnappings that went on in the area.

If convicted, the accused could spend between 20 to 30 years in prison, according to Section 2 of the Terrorism Prevention Act.

But Akowe and his co-accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and Justice Yunusa fixed the bail application for September 15, 2015.