Four sentenced to death over kidnapping in Edo State

A criminal court in Edo State has sentenced three men and one woman to death for kidnapping a woman in a market at Benin City.

The abduction happened on June 14 when gunmen stormed the popular Vegetable Market, off Airport Road, attacked the victim, Oseghale Precious, right in front of her husband and children and dragged her away.

The Police after receiving credible intelligence, swings into action, tracked down and arrested the gang three days after the abduction.

On Tuesday, Justice Aigbona Momodu delivered the final verdict. He ordered that Marvellous Isaac (32), Wisdom Michael (36), Rufus Michael (30), and Gift Raphael, (27), must die by hanging or lethal injection.

The judge found the four guilty of multiple charges, including kidnapping, conspiracy, armed robbery, and illegal weapons possession. The first defendant, Isaac, was also convicted of belonging to the Eiye secret cult.

During the trial, the state prosecution team called seven witnesses to testify against the gang. The judge stated that the criminals could not defend themselves against their own written confessions and the weapons in their possession (which include, a pump-action rifle and cartridges), which the police recovered from them.

Meanwhile, senior lawyer Olayiwola Afolabi (SAN), after the court’s decision, pleaded on the state government to follow standard legal procedure before carrying out the penalty. He advised Governor Monday Okpebholo against signing the death warrants immediately.

“The governor cannot order the execution of the convicts. It is only when they fail to file an appeal within the required 90 days”, Afolabi.

The four convicts now have a 90-day window to challenge their death sentences at the Court of Appeal.