Edo court sentences four to death for kidnapping

The Edo State Special Criminal Court has sentenced four people to death over a kidnapping case in Benin City.

Channels TV reported that Justice Aigbona Momodu delivered the judgment on Tuesday in the court’s first kidnapping-case judgment. Daily Post identified the convicts as Isaac Marvelous, Gift Raphael, Wisdom Michael and Rufus Michael.

The case arose from the abduction of a woman at the Vegetable Market along Airport Road in Benin City on June 14, 2026.

Channels TV reported that the defendants faced an 11-count charge linked to kidnapping, conspiracy, armed robbery, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms.

Daily Post reported that Isaac Marvelous was convicted on all 11 counts and that the court ordered death by hanging or lethal injection. It also reported that the court handed down other jail terms and ordered recovered firearms to be handed over to the Federal Government.

The Edo State Special Criminal Court was established on July 1, 2026, to handle kidnapping and cultism-related cases and speed up prosecution of violent crimes in the state.

Sources: Channels TV, Daily Post