BENIN CITY | Tuesday, 29 September 2026
The Edo State Special Criminal Court sitting in Benin City has sentenced four persons to death for kidnapping and related offences, marking its first judgment since its establishment to accelerate the prosecution of violent crimes in the state.
The judgment, delivered on Tuesday, followed the prosecution of four defendants over the abduction of a woman at the popular Vegetable Market along Airport Road, Benin City, on 14 June 2026.
The convicts are Marvellous Isaac, 32; Wisdom Michael, 36; Rufus Emete Michael, 30; and Gift Raphael, 27. The three men and one woman were prosecuted on an 11-count charge bordering on conspiracy, kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Aigbona Terry Momodu sentenced all four defendants to death by hanging or through the administration of lethal injection on various counts.
The first defendant, Marvellous Isaac, was sentenced to death on counts two to nine, seven years’ imprisonment on count one, 10 years on count ten and life imprisonment on count eleven.
Wisdom Michael received death sentences on counts two to nine, while Rufus Emete Michael was sentenced to death on counts two, three, four, six and seven.
Gift Raphael, the fourth defendant, received death sentences on counts two, four, six and eight. All four were additionally sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on count one.
Justice Momodu, while pronouncing the sentences, explained that the applicable laws left the court with no discretion to impose lesser punishment for the capital offences.
THE KIDNAPPING INCIDENT
The case arose from the abduction of a woman, identified during proceedings as Mrs Precious Oseghale, at the Vegetable Market along Airport Road on 14 June 2026.
The victim had reportedly visited the market with her husband and children when armed men arrived in an SUV and abducted her in broad daylight.
She was released two days later, following an incident that triggered a police investigation and the subsequent arrest of several suspects.
Marvellous Isaac was arrested on 18 June during an operation involving personnel of the Police Intelligence Response Team. Another suspected member of the gang, identified as Precious, was reportedly killed during the operation.
Further investigations led to the arrests of the other defendants.
Police recovered a red Lexus RX 350 allegedly used in the abduction, a pump-action shotgun, live ammunition, a motorcycle and cash suspected to be proceeds of crime.
During the trial, the prosecution, led by Edo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Professor Roland Otaru, SAN, presented witnesses and exhibits linking the defendants to the offences.
The defendants had pleaded not guilty when arraigned.
COURT ORDERS DESTRUCTION OF FIREARMS
In addition to the capital sentences, the court ordered the confiscation of a pump-action firearm and four cartridges tendered as exhibits during the trial.
The firearm and ammunition were forfeited to the Federal Government, with the court directing that they be handed over to the Edo State Police Armourer at the State Criminal Investigation Department for destruction within 30 days.
MAIDEN JUDGMENT OF SPECIAL CRIMINAL COURT
Tuesday’s verdict marks the maiden judgment of the Edo State Special Criminal Court, which commenced operations on 1 July 2026 to accelerate the hearing and determination of kidnapping, cultism and other violent crime cases.
The specialised judicial arrangement followed a request by Governor Monday Okpebholo for the expedited prosecution of such offences in the state.
The governor had previously pledged that persons convicted of kidnapping would face the full weight of the law, including capital punishment where prescribed by existing legislation.
The judgment comes approximately three and a half months after the abduction and represents the first completed kidnapping trial under the state’s newly established special court arrangement.
The convictions conclude the trial at the High Court, although the condemned persons retain their rights to challenge the judgment through the appellate courts.
Additional reporting: ITV Benin and monitored court proceedings.
