The Jos Magistrates’ Court has sentenced Ibrahim Kaye, a 40-year-old businessman, to three months in prison for threatening to kidnap an individual. The sentence was handed down by Magistrate Shawomi Bokkos after Kaye pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
Magistrate Bokkos also offered Kaye an alternative to imprisonment: he could pay a fine of N50,000 in lieu of serving the jail term. The decision came swiftly following a summary trial.
The case was brought to the court’s attention on July 8 by Abdullahi Karfe, the complainant, who reported the matter to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit in Jos. According to the prosecution, led by Inspector Ahmed Labaran, Kaye and his younger brother, who remains at large, threatened Karfe with kidnapping if he did not withdraw his complaint from the police.
Inspector Labaran emphasized that the threats made by Kaye were serious, as they aimed to coerce the complainant into abandoning his report. The offence, he noted, falls under the penal provisions of the Plateau State Penal Code Law.
