Tamale High Court Convicts Four Herdsmen For Kidnap-For-Ransom, Cutlass Torture Of Fellow Herdsman

A Tamale High Court has slammed four herdsmen with eight years imprisonment each, in hard labour, after finding them guilty of a chilling kidnap-for-ransom operation that saw a fellow herdsman dragged from his bed at gunpoint, hacked with cutlasses, and held hostage for three days in a remote bush hut until his family coughed up GH¢90,000.00 to save his life.

Sir Justice Eric Ansah Ankomah delivered the judgment on 26th May 2026, convicting Haruna Seidu @ Omaru, Osman Sambo, Amidu Amadu, and Hoyeefe Amadu on all four counts: conspiracy to commit crime to wit kidnapping, kidnapping, causing harm, and threat of death all under the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).

THE NIGHT OF TERROR

On 2nd December 2025, four armed men stormed the Wapuli home of victim Dawuda Osman at around 11pm, overpowering him amid gunfire despite his struggle. As he tried to flee through the bush, his captors slashed him with a cutlass, leaving him bleeding before dragging him onward to an abandoned hut, where he was tied up and guarded for three harrowing days.

His abductors initially demanded a staggering GH¢400,000.00, later settling for GH¢90,000.00, threatening repeatedly to kill him if his family failed to pay.

THE RANSOM DROP AND THE TAKEDOWN

The victim's brother, Buubu Osman, delivered the cash — stuffed in a distinctive orange and black bag to the kidnappers at Joblajo on 5th December 2025. The victim was released, but bore deep cutlass wounds on both arms, his head, fingers, and toes.

Police intelligence operatives who had been trailing the gang exchanged gunfire with the kidnappers hours later, eventually cornering and arresting three of the men Haruna Seidu, Osman Sambo, and Amidu Amadu, at a drinking spot, still in possession of the ransom bag containing GH¢60,000.00 in cash. A fourth suspect, Hoyeefe Amadu, was tracked down and arrested weeks later, on 20th January 2026, from a hideout near Watugu.

During trial the victim and his brother positively identified the accused at an identification parade, and the court found the men's denials riddled with contradictions including a caution statement by Haruna Seidu admitting he collected the ransom bag, directly tying him and his accomplices to the crime.

Justice Ankomah ruled that the prosecution had proved every count beyond reasonable doubt, describing the accused persons' defence as "manifestly unreliable."

Taking into account time already spent in custody and the absence of prior convictions, the court sentenced all four convicts to *8 years' imprisonment with hard labour on each count, to run concurrently*.

The court further ordered the confiscation and public auction of motorbikes and mobile phones seized during investigations, with proceeds to the Consolidated Fund, while GH¢70,010.00 recovered from the convicts was ordered released to the victim's brother, Buubu Osman.

Read the full judgment here: https://dennislawgh.com/case-preview?dl_citation_no=%5B2026%5DDLHC18608