A five-man panel of the Supreme Court yesterday re-affirmed the death sentence passed on one Ayiere Godsgift, aka Alex, a notorious kidnapper, known especially for the murder of a teenager he kidnapped from school.

The appellant (Alex) was convicted and sentenced to death on March 17, 2010 by a Cross Rivers State High Court in Calabar.

Following an unsuccessful appeal at the Calabar Division of the Court of Appeal, he proceeded to further file another appeal at Supreme Court in Abuja.

But the Justice Suleiman Galadima-led panel, in a unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal against his death sentence for lacking in merit.

Alex was said to have enticed the deceased teenager, John Okon Eden, from Grace and Gold Nursery/Primary School in Calabar and deceived both the school security man and Edem’s teacher before disappearing with the boy between 12.00 noon and 1.pm on October 8, 2007.

A snack he bought for the young teenager was shown to the teacher, who was holding some things in her hands and had turned around to drop them, only to discover Alex and the 10-year-old boy missing from the scene.

The teacher was said to have approached the security man at his post after she waited a while for Alex to return with John to get details of John’s whereabouts and was told that Alex had not returned with John after leaving the school premises.

John’s parents, who were thereafter contacted, declined sending any one to pick him from school.

His father later received a telephone call from someone who identified himself as Johnson demanding millions of naira ransom for the release of John, after a search party had been initiated.

John’s father said that the “faceless Johnson” directed him to take the ransom money to an operator of a commercial centre located at B52, Border Road, Ikom.

Alex was said to have sent a commercial motorcyclist, one Samuel Ezaka, to pick the money at Ikom.