Edo Court Sentences Four to Death Over Kidnapping of Woman in Benin
The Edo State Special Criminal Court has sentenced four men to death for their roles in the kidnapping of a woman at the popular Vegetable Market along Airport Road, Benin City.
Justice Aigbona Momodu delivered the judgment on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, in the court’s maiden kidnapping case.
The convicts are Marvellous Isaac, 32; Wisdom Michael, 36; Rufus Emete Michael, 30; and Gift Raphael, 27.
They were prosecuted on an 11-count charge bordering on kidnapping, conspiracy, armed robbery, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms.
Delivering judgment, Justice Momodu sentenced Isaac to seven years’ imprisonment on count one, death on counts two to nine, 10 years’ imprisonment on count 10 and life imprisonment on count 11.
Michael was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on count one and death on counts two to nine.
Emete Michael received seven years’ imprisonment on count one and death sentences on counts two, three, four, six and seven.
Raphael was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on count one and death on counts two, four, six and eight.
The court ordered that the death sentences be carried out by hanging or lethal injection, subject to the applicable legal process.
Justice Momodu also ordered the confiscation of a JoJef pump-action firearm, two unexpended cartridges and two expended cartridges tendered as exhibits during the trial.
The judge directed that the exhibits be handed over to the Edo State Police Armourer at the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for destruction within 30 days.
The case stemmed from the reported abduction of a woman at the Vegetable Market along Airport Road in Benin City.
Reports indicated that the woman was at the market with her husband and children when armed men allegedly arrived and abducted her.
A witness who reportedly saw the incident later narrated what happened in a video that circulated online.
The Edo State Police Command subsequently confirmed the incident, leading to investigations and the eventual prosecution of the four defendants.
