A pastor, Wisdom Matthew, alongside one Ifeanyi Onuoha, 29, have been dragged before a Magistrates’ Court on Lagos Island on a two-count charge of abduction.
The police alleged in the charge sheet No. G/23/2011 that the accused persons and others now at large between January and April 2011, and between March 9 and 10, 2011, unlawfully imprisoned Mrs. Kerstein Onuoha, a German national married to a Nigerian and took her to Ghana without her consent.
The police also alleged that the expartriate was kept in solitary confinement, even as her suspected captors demanded ransom from the husband who paid an unspecified amount of money to the kidnappers who would not release her.
She was, however, rescued after the matter was reported to the police at Zone 2 Command, Onikan, Lagos leading to the a collaboration with the Ghana police authorities.
Their efforts, the police said, led to the arrest of the two suspected kidnappers while others reportedly escaped and the accused persons were brought back to Nigeria.
The offence, according to the police prosecutor, Inspector Marcus Okon, is punishable under Sections 516 and 361 of the Criminal Code, Cap. C17, Vol. ii, laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003.
They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge and the presiding magistrate, Alli Balogun, admitted them to bail in the sum of N500, 000 each with two sureties in like sum.
The case was adjourned till 2 August 2011 for mention.
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