On 29 September 2026, Justice A. T. Momodu of the Benin City Special Court sentenced four defendants – Marvelous Isaac, Wisdom Michael, Rufus Emete Michael and Gift Rachael – to death for a high‑profile kidnapping at Edo State’s Vegetable Market off Airport Road. The judgment, delivered after more than three hours of hearing, marked the first application of the state’s newly‑enacted anti‑kidnapping and anti‑cultism legislation.
Governor Monday Okpebholo, sworn in on 12 November 2024, pledged to eradicate “thugery and cultism” in Edo State. He subsequently urged the state House of Assembly to tighten the law, allowing demolition of any building linked to kidnapping or cult activity and authorising the death penalty for convicted kidnappers. To streamline prosecutions, the governor also secured the dedication of a court exclusively for kidnapping and cult‑related cases.
The crime that tested the governor’s resolve occurred on the morning of 14 June 2026. In broad daylight, a group of armed men in a pepper‑red Lexus Jeep shot the tyres of a parked Toyota Highlander at the bustling Vegetable Market, abducted the vehicle’s occupant’s wife, and fled with her. A CCTV camera in a building opposite the market captured the entire incident, and the video quickly went viral on social media. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of N130 million but received only about N60 million before police moved in.
Police acted on the CCTV footage and, with orders from the governor and the Inspector General of Police, arrested the first suspect, Marvelous Isaac, on 17 June. Isaac led detectives to a hideout beside Awuze Hotel and Bar on Ekehuan Road, where a man identified as Precious – the community’s chief security officer – was shot and later died at the police hospital. The remaining three defendants – Wisdom Michael, Rufus Emete Michael and Gift Rachael – were apprehended on 20 June in separate operations across Edo and Delta states.
During the trial, the prosecution presented seven witnesses and seven exhibits, including the viral CCTV footage, to prove charges of kidnapping, armed robbery, illegal possession of firearms, conspiracy and membership of a secret cult. Justice Momodu concluded, “I wish to place on record my profound appreciation to the private citizen whose CCTV captured the scene of the Vegetable Market kidnapping incident,” and urged residents to install surveillance cameras in homes, shops and vehicles. All four defendants were sentenced to death by hanging or lethal injection, reflecting the state’s new hard‑line stance on kidnapping and cult‑related violence.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
