The Court of Appeal in Lagos has upheld the conviction of Mutiu Ogundare, the former Baale of Shangisha in Magodo, Lagos State, for faking his own kidnapping.
Ogundare was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, but he appealed the decision.
On Monday, the Court of Appeal affirmed the lower court’s judgment, but reduced Ogundare’s sentence to 12 years.
The court found him guilty on two counts of conspiracy and fake kidnapping, but overturned his conviction on the third count of false representation to release a kidnapped person.
Ogundare was first arrested in 2017 for allegedly staging his own kidnapping to blackmail the Lagos State government.
He claimed that he was abducted by three men, but later confessed to security services that he had fabricated the story.
The court’s decision was delivered by Justice Peter Bassi, who led a three-man panel. The other justices on the panel, Justices Bayero and Folashade Ojo, agreed with the lead judgment.
Ogundare’s sentence was reduced to 10 years for count one and two years for count two, to run concurrently.
The former monarch’s counsel had pleaded for mercy, arguing that Ogundare had turned a new leaf and was remorseful for his actions.
However, the court found that his offense was serious and deserved a significant sentence.
