The Edo State Special Criminal Court sitting in Benin City has sentenced four persons to death following their conviction over the kidnapping of a woman at the Vegetable Market along Airport Road.
Justice Aigbona Momodu delivered the judgment after finding the defendants guilty on several counts arising from the June 14, 2026 incident.
The convicted persons are Marvellous Isaac, Wisdom Michael, Rufus Emete Michael and Gift Raphael.
They were prosecuted on an 11-count charge involving kidnapping, conspiracy, armed robbery, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms.
The case arose from the daylight abduction of a woman at the popular Vegetable Market in Benin City.
Court imposes multiple sentences
The court imposed different punishments according to the individual counts upon which each defendant was convicted.
The sentences included terms of imprisonment, life imprisonment and capital punishment.
The judgment also addressed firearms and ammunition tendered as exhibits during the trial, with consequential orders made concerning their disposal.
The decision is particularly notable because it represents the first major kidnapping judgment delivered by the Edo State Special Criminal Court.
The specialised court was established as part of efforts to accelerate the prosecution of kidnapping, cultism and other serious violent crimes in the state.
Right of appeal remains
Following the judgment, legal attention is expected to shift to whether any of the convicted persons will exercise their constitutional right of appeal.
A death sentence imposed by a trial court does not extinguish the convicted person’s right to challenge the conviction or sentence before the appellate courts.
Any appeal could therefore require the Court of Appeal to review the evidence, legal reasoning and procedures adopted by the trial court.
Until such an appeal succeeds, however, the judgment of the Special Criminal Court remains the subsisting decision.
The case comes amid continuing public concern over kidnapping and violent crime across Nigeria and increasing resort by some states to specialised judicial mechanisms aimed at speeding up the prosecution of serious offences.
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Source: Channels Television
