BREAKING: EDO SPECIAL COURT SENTENCES FOUR TO DEATH OVER KIDNAPPING, OTHER CRIMINAL OFFENCES
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HotJist News
Justice Aigbona Momodu of the Edo State Special Criminal Court has sentenced four people to death for their involvement in the kidnapping of a woman at the Vegetable Market along Airport Road in Benin City.
The judgment was delivered on Tuesday, marking the court’s first judgment in a kidnapping case.
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The convicts were tried on an 11-count charge bordering on kidnapping, conspiracy, armed robbery, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms.
The case followed the broad-daylight abduction of the woman on June 14, 2026.
The four sentenced persons – three males and one female — are Marvelous Isaac, 32; Wisdom Michael, 36; Rufus Michael, 30; and Gift Raphael, 27.
According to The Media, the woman, whose identity was not disclosed, was at the market with her husband and children when gunmen reportedly stormed the area and abducted her.
A woman who claimed to have witnessed the incident later described the incident in a video shared online, saying she had witnessed a kidnapping for the first time.
She said the incident occurred in her presence at the Vegetable Market along Airport Road, adding that she helped save the victim’s children during the incident.
The incident was later confirmed by the Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, Eno Ikoedem.
In its judgment, the court sentenced the four defendants to varying terms of imprisonment and death sentences across the 11 counts.
The first defendant, Marvellous Isaac, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on count one, death by hanging or lethal injection on counts two to nine, 10 years’ imprisonment on count 10 and life imprisonment on count 11.
The second defendant, Wisdom Michael, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on count one and death by hanging or lethal injection on counts two to nine.
The third defendant, Rufus Emete Michael, received seven years’ imprisonment on count one and death sentences on counts two, three, four, six and seven.
The fourth defendant, Gift Raphael, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on count one and death sentences on counts two, four, six and eight.
The court further ordered that the pump-action rifle and the four cartridges be confiscated to the Federal Government and handed over to the Edo State Police Armourer at the State Criminal Investigation Department for destruction within 30 days.
The Edo State Special Criminal Court was established on July 1, 2026, to handle kidnapping- and cultism-related cases and accelerate the prosecution of violent crimes in the state.
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