An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has sentenced four men to death by hanging for the kidnapping and murder of a businessman, among other heinous crimes. The convicts are Marvelous Ndah, 38, from Ikot Iyire, Edemaya in Ikot Abasi; Anthony Anthony Akpan, 37, an indigene of Ekput in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area; Aniema Eshiet, 34, from Oborenyin in Ikot Abasi; and Onyebule Gift Ogbonna, 41, from Omuma Local Government Area of Rivers State. These four individuals were identified as members of a notorious nine-man kidnapping syndicate that terrorized residents of Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State and neighboring communities in Rivers State.

The court found the convicts guilty of kidnapping Mr. Chijioke Anyanwu, an Anambra State-born businessman and proprietor of Jon KAMSY Supermarket, Ikot Abasi. Mr. Anyanwu was abducted on January 25, 2016, in front of his residence. Despite collecting a ransom of N3 million from his family, the victim tragically died in the gang's custody. His body was subsequently buried in a shallow grave at Ikot Iyire, Edemaya, Ikot Abasi. Approximately four months later, his remains were discovered and exhumed, after which he was reburied in his hometown of Agulu, Anambra State. He was survived by his 32-year-old widow and four children.

Justice Archibong Archibong delivered the judgment on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, finding the four defendants guilty as charged. They had been arraigned on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, contrary to Section 552 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Laws of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria 2000, and kidnapping, contrary to Section 1(2) of the Akwa Ibom State Internal Security and Enforcement Law, 2009. The judge held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, expressing hope that "this judgment will act as a deterrent to those who, like the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th defendants, and all those who aspire to be like them."

Evidence before the court further revealed that on April 16, 2016, the same gang kidnapped Mrs. Jewel Emem Thomas, a female lecturer of Akwa Ibom State University, from her residence along Ikpetim Road, Ikot Abasi, at about 2 a.m. The lecturer’s husband pleaded with the kidnappers to take him instead and spare his wife, but they refused. The gang directed him to deliver a N2 million ransom at Bolingo Mortuary Road, off Igwuruta, Port Harcourt. After collecting the ransom on April 19, 2016, at about 9 p.m., the kidnappers dumped the victim at Ibekwe Road near ALSON Company in Ikot Abasi and provided her with N80 for transport home.

Investigations by the Department of State Services (DSS) led to the arrest of Marvelous Ndah on April 26, 2016, along Abak Road in Uyo. Ndah confessed to his involvement in the kidnapping of the lecturer and several other abductions carried out by the gang, and his confession subsequently led to the arrests of Anthony Akpan and Aniema Eshiet. In his extrajudicial statement, Ndah admitted collecting N400,000 as his share of the Anyanwu ransom and participating in at least four kidnapping operations in 2016. He also confessed to the abduction of a UBA staff member and a petroleum marketer in Ikot Abasi, from whose ransom payments he collected N200,000. Furthermore, Ndah admitted involvement in the kidnapping of a former councillor in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area, Mr. Emmanuel Obot Inam, in March 2016, from which he received N150,000.

Anthony Akpan, in his statement, admitted to providing intelligence that led to the kidnapping of Emmanuel Obot Inam on April 9, 2016, and stated he was responsible for buying food for the victim, collecting N100,000 from that ransom. Akpan also confessed to participating in the kidnapping of the AKSU lecturer, stating that he monitored police activity around the UNION Bank axis near her residence and received N120,000 from that ransom. He further disclosed the gang's plans to kidnap a former Chairman of Ikot Abasi Local Government, Architect Ufot Udoinyang, before his arrest. Aniema Eshiet told investigators that he guarded the kidnapped lecturer for five days at Ndah’s residence and collected N125,000 as his share of the ransom. He also admitted supplying information on Architect Udoinyang to the gang, led by one Justice Okiribo, alias “Razy,” who is still at large. The fourth convict, Onyebule Gift Ogbonna, was also found to have actively participated in the criminal operations of the gang.

Justice Archibong, however, discharged and acquitted two other defendants, Uche Success Nwokocha and Chidi Christian Nwokoma, holding that the prosecution failed to establish credible evidence linking them to the kidnapping of the late Mr. Anyanwu. This judgment brings to an end one of the most horrifying kidnapping cases in Ikot Abasi, sending a strong signal against violent crimes in Akwa Ibom State and reinforcing the state's commitment to internal security.