Disappearance from Sharjah
Obaida lived with his family in Sharjah, where his father operated an auto-repair business. On May 20, 2016, he disappeared from the area around the workshop. Investigators later established that Nidal Eisa Abdullah, a Jordanian man who knew the family through the business, had taken the boy in a vehicle.
Obaida's body was recovered two days later in Dubai. Sharjah Police and Dubai Police worked across emirate boundaries as the investigation moved from a missing-child case to a homicide inquiry.
Investigation and arrest
Dubai prosecutors said Abdullah admitted during the investigation that he had taken Obaida and killed him. Police and prosecutors also developed evidence supporting kidnapping and sexual-assault charges. Contemporary reporting records that Abdullah later disputed parts of the prosecution case at trial, including the sexual-assault allegation, while admitting the killing.
That distinction matters: this page follows the charges actually adjudicated by the courts, not preliminary allegations alone.
Trial and death sentence
On August 15, 2016, Dubai Criminal Court convicted Abdullah and imposed a death sentence. The case proceeded through the automatic and defence appeals required in a capital case. In January 2017, the Dubai Court of Appeal upheld the sentence.
In February 2017, the Dubai Court of Cassation — the emirate's highest court — rejected Abdullah's final appeal and affirmed the convictions and death sentence. The court record reported in UAE media therefore left no unresolved question about the identity of the convicted offender.
Execution
On November 23, 2017, Dubai authorities carried out the sentence after the required approval process. The Dubai Media Office confirmed the execution, and both Associated Press reporting and UAE court coverage noted that it followed the Cassation Court's final ruling.
Timeline
May 20, 2016: Obaida disappears from the area of his father's workshop in Sharjah.
May 22, 2016: his body is found in Dubai and the investigation intensifies.
May 2016: Nidal Eisa Abdullah is arrested and referred to prosecutors.
August 15, 2016: Dubai Criminal Court convicts Abdullah and sentences him to death.
January 22, 2017: the Dubai Court of Appeal upholds the capital sentence.
February 2017: the Dubai Court of Cassation rejects the final appeal.
November 23, 2017: Abdullah is executed in Dubai.
Current status
The murder of Obaida Al Aqrabawi is Solved / Adjudicated. Nidal Eisa Abdullah was convicted through the final appellate level in Dubai, and the sentence was carried out in November 2017.