THE Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, has upheld the conviction of the dethroned traditional ruler of Shangisha in Magodo, Mutiu Ogundare, for faking his own abduction.
The court, however, reduced Ogundare’s sentence to 12 years from the 15 years initially handed down on him by the lower court.
Recall that Justice Hakeem Oshodi of the Lagos State High in Ikeja had on September 27, 2022, sentenced the convict to 15 years imprisonment.
Ogundare was charged, alongside his wife, Abolanle, and his brother, Opeyemi Mohammed, and arraigned on three counts of breach of peace and fake abduction, preferred against them by the Lagos State Government.
The lower court had discharged and acquitted Abolanle, saying she had no link to the crime, but found Ogundare and Mohammed guilty as charged.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, Ogundare approached the Court of Appeal to challenge the decision of the lower court.
When the case was called, Justice Peter Bassi, who read the judgment, upheld the ruling of the lower court in counts one and two and upturned count three.
Bassi said Ogundare’s appeal succeeds in part and reduced his sentence to 12 years, even as the court held that the appellant would serve 10 years imprisonment for count one and two years for count two.
On the third count, the court upturned the sentence of the lower court, in respect of false representation to release a kidnapped person.
Ogundare was first remanded on July 16, 2017, in Kirikiri Correctional Centre by an Ogba Magistrates’ Court for alleged fake abduction.
The state had alleged that the convicts committed the offences on July 5, 2017, along Centre for Management Development (CMD) road in Ikosi-Isheri Local Council Development Area (LCDA), saying Ogundare staged the kidnap to blackmail the state government.
