4 convicted after 2023 East Vancouver kidnapping
Posted April 9, 2026 11:01 am.
The Vancouver Police Department says four people have now been convicted for their parts in breaking into a home and kidnapping four people three years ago.
Police say the incident happened on March 11, 2023. The four victims — all from the same family — were allegedly kidnapped from their East Vancouver home during the night, driven outside of the city, and “held hostage for a period of time.”
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!In April 2024, VPD officers arrested three suspects.
The BC Prosecution Service approved charges against 19-year-old Duoth Techen Garkouth of Surrey, 19-year-old Ramadhan Ibrahim-Hussein of Richmond, and an unnamed 17-year-old from Surrey.
Shortly after, the BCPS also charged a fourth suspect, Sijuola Obatusa, who was then 20 years old.
The 17-year-old “entered a guilty plea to lesser included offences of being unlawfully in a dwelling house and forcible confinement,” and has already completed a sentence handed down by a youth court in 2024.
Garkouth and Ibrahim-Hussein, now 21, both pleaded guilty to kidnapping and breaking and entering.
In an update Thursday, the VPD says a BC Supreme Court found Obatusa, now 23, guilty as well.
“The judge’s decision validates the long hours that our investigators spent collecting evidence to hold these suspects accountable,” said Const. Darren Wong.
Police say the three men remain in custody and are expected to appear in court for sentencing on May 6.
