Four Sentenced to Death Over Edo Vegetable Market Kidnapping
It was a kidnapping that happened in broad daylight.
Not inside a remote forest. Not on an isolated road. But at one of Benin City’s busy markets, with people going about their normal business.
On June 14, 2026, a woman who had gone shopping with her husband and children at the popular Vegetable Market along Airport Road was suddenly confronted by armed men.
Within moments, the situation changed completely.
The woman was taken away, leaving her children behind.
A witness who said she was at the market when the incident happened later described the scene in a video that circulated online. She said she had never witnessed a kidnapping before and explained that she had helped the woman’s children during the incident. The witness also showed bruises on her body, saying she had been caught up in the chaos.
The police later confirmed that the incident had occurred.
But what initially appeared to be a shocking daylight abduction would eventually lead investigators to an alleged kidnapping network — and months later, to one of the first major judgments delivered by Edo State’s newly established Special Criminal Court.
Now, four people have been sentenced to death.
Their names are Marvellous Isaac, Wisdom Michael, Rufus Emete Michael and Gift Raphael.
But before that sentence was handed down, there was a lengthy courtroom battle.
THE INVESTIGATION
The investigation began after the June 14 abduction.
According to police authorities, operatives of the Intelligence Response Team eventually arrested Marvellous Isaac, aged 32, on June 18 during an operation that reportedly resulted in a gun duel.
Another suspected member of the group, identified only as Precious, was killed during the operation.
Police said several items were recovered, including a Lexus RX 350 SUV believed to have been used during the kidnapping, a pump-action shotgun, live cartridges, money and a motorcycle.
Three more suspects were subsequently arrested.
They were identified as Gift Raphael, 27; Wisdom Michael, 36; and Rufus Emete Michael, 30.
The four were eventually brought before the Edo State Special Criminal Court.
THE COURT CASE
The case became one of the first major matters handled by the special court established specifically to deal with kidnapping and cultism-related offences in Edo State.
The court was constituted after Governor Monday Okpebholo requested a specialised court for such cases, with the Chief Judge of Edo State establishing the Special Criminal Court 1 in Benin City.
The defendants faced charges involving kidnapping, conspiracy, armed robbery, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms.
Reports from the proceedings indicate that the charge was presented as an 11-count case in some stages of the trial.
All four defendants pleaded not guilty.
And as the trial progressed, prosecutors presented witnesses and physical evidence before the court.
WHAT THE VICTIMS TOLD THE COURT
One of the most significant testimonies came from Mrs Precious Oseghale, the woman connected to the June 14 Vegetable Market incident.
She told the court that she had gone to the market with her husband and children after attending church.
According to her testimony, a red Lexus RX 350 suddenly blocked their vehicle.
The attackers then shot one of the tyres and ordered her husband to come out.
The men, she said, attempted to take both of them, but her husband managed to escape.
She was not so fortunate.
She was forced into the attackers’ vehicle and taken into a forest.
During the incident, she also said the attackers took jewellery belonging to her, with the items valued at more than ₦15 million.
Her husband later appeared before the court and corroborated parts of her account.
But prosecutors did not rely on only one incident.
Other witnesses described separate kidnapping incidents which prosecutors linked to the same defendants.
One victim told the court that his family paid ₦5.5 million for his release after he was kidnapped from his wife’s pharmacy.
Another victim said his family paid about ₦12.47 million after his abduction along Ekehuan Road.
An elderly woman also testified about an earlier kidnapping and said she paid ₦25 million, followed by another ₦5 million payment after she was transferred to another group.
Altogether, witnesses told the court they had paid more than ₦63 million in ransom across the incidents being discussed during the trial.
THE EVIDENCE
As the prosecution built its case, investigators presented several pieces of evidence.
These included video recordings connected to police interrogations, written statements, a voice recording involving Gift Raphael and Marvellous Isaac, as well as physical exhibits.
A pump-action firearm was among the items presented.
A Lexus SUV was also admitted as evidence.
The prosecution called seven witnesses before eventually closing its case.
But the defence challenged the prosecution’s case.
The defendants denied involvement in the alleged kidnapping activities.
Marvellous Isaac, in particular, denied being a kidnapper during his testimony.
He told the court that he was an electrician and rejected the allegations against him.
Gift Raphael also denied participating in the kidnapping operation. She told the court that although Isaac was her boyfriend, she knew him as an electrician and later as a community security officer, rather than as a kidnapper. She also denied being with him during the June 14 incident.
The defence maintained that the prosecution had not established the allegations against their clients beyond reasonable doubt.
The defendants therefore continued to deny the accusations as the trial moved toward its final stage.
THEN CAME THE FINAL ADDRESSES
By August, both sides had completed the major stages of the trial.
The defence eventually closed its case.
The matter then moved to final written addresses, with the court fixing September 29 for judgment.
By that point, the four defendants remained before the court awaiting the decision of Justice Aigbona Terry Momodu.
And then, on September 29, the court delivered its judgment.
THE VERDICT
The court found the defendants guilty on various counts and imposed different sentences depending on the count and the individual defendant.
For Marvellous Isaac, the court imposed seven years’ imprisonment on count one.
On counts two through nine, the court sentenced him to death.
He also received a 10-year prison sentence on count ten and life imprisonment on count eleven.
Wisdom Michael received seven years’ imprisonment on count one.
For counts two through nine, the court imposed the death penalty.
Rufus Emete Michael was sentenced to seven years on count one.
He received the death penalty on counts two, three, four, six and seven.
And Gift Raphael, the only woman among the four defendants, was sentenced to seven years on count one.
She received the death penalty on counts two, four, six and eight.
The court’s death sentences were expressed as execution by hanging or by lethal injection.
THE FIREARM EXHIBITS
The court also dealt with the weapons and ammunition tendered during the proceedings.
The exhibits included a JoJef pump-action firearm, two unexpended cartridges and two expended cartridges.
The court ordered that the exhibits be confiscated to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
They were to be handed over to the Edo State Police Armourer at the State Criminal Investigation Department for destruction within 30 days, according to the judgment.
And with that, the case that began with a woman being taken from a busy market in Benin City reached a dramatic conclusion inside the courtroom.
Four defendants who had spent months denying the allegations were handed death sentences on specified counts.
The judgment also marked a major moment for Edo State’s Special Criminal Court, which had been established to speed up the prosecution of kidnapping and cultism-related cases.
The original incident happened in a place where people had gathered simply to buy food and carry on with their daily lives.
But that ordinary market visit became the beginning of a criminal investigation, a months-long trial, and eventually a judgment carrying the most severe punishment available under Nigerian law.
The case is now at the judgment stage, and the details of any subsequent appeal or further legal proceedings would depend on what happens after the court’s decision.
(Source: Punch Newspapers)
