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Dramatic businessman Paul Kobia has been charged at Nairobi’s Milimani law courts.
Kobia has been handed a judgement Monday afternoon following a case linking him to the abduction and assaulting a Congolese businessman with the help of his bodyguards.
Kobia, who is Nairobi senator aspirant on a NASA ticket, denied charges of kidnap, assault and unlawfully firing in the air.
He, however, took plea after his lawyer Kiraithe Wandungi informed a Milimani court that he was fit to do so. The businessman had been undergoing treatment at Guru Nanak hospital following a road accident on March 11.
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Kobia is said to have abducted businessman Blanchard Londole with his four bodyguards Alvin Anzaya, Nelson Moyi, John Mutwiri and Martin Mwangi on March 9.
The group is said to have taken the man from Super Lodge along Kindaruma to Kobia's house along Muzima springs in Kileleshwa.
The prosecution said Kobia and his bodyguards, with others who did not appear in court, physically harmed Londole.
It was said that they took the man to his house at about 10pm on that day, forced him into their car and demanded a sum of Sh40 million while beating him. The money is said to have been given out in exchange for gold.
The court heard that the five actively participated in the crime and that they threatened the Londole with a gun which police confiscated.
The bodyguards, on the other hand, denied the charges when they appeared in court two weeks ago. They were each released on Sh800, 000 bond or Sh500, 000 cash bail. Kobia was granted similar terms.
In 2015, Kobia was linked to the death of Raila Odinga’s son Fidel Odinga, he however denied the claims terming the accusations, especially from newspapers, "false and malicious".
The businessman with interests in gold is a licensed firearm holder who once shot a motorist on Limuru road, prompting the withdrawal of his firearm licence.