Gift Raphael receives a seven-year sentence on one count and death sentences on four other counts in the Edo State Special Criminal Court's first kidnapping judgment.
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| Gift Raphael has been sentenced to death on four counts by the Edo State Special Criminal Court. |
The Edo State Special Criminal Court sitting in Benin City has sentenced Gift Raphael, one of four defendants prosecuted over a kidnapping case, to death on four counts.
According to the judgment delivered on Tuesday, September 29, Raphael was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment on count one, while on counts two, four, six and eight, the court imposed the death penalty by hanging or lethal injection.
The sentencing follows the trial of four defendants over the alleged abduction of a woman at the Vegetable Market along Airport Road, Benin City, on June 14, 2026. The other defendants are Marvellous Isaac, 32, Wisdom Michael, 36, and Rufus Emete Michael, 30.
The case was heard by the Edo State Special Criminal Court, which was established in July 2026 following a directive to accelerate the prosecution of kidnapping and cultism cases. The court's September 29 judgment was its first verdict in a kidnapping case.
The defendants had previously pleaded not guilty to charges connected to alleged kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms. During the trial, prosecutors presented victims and police investigators as witnesses and tendered exhibits including a pump-action firearm, a Lexus SUV and other materials.
Earlier proceedings also heard evidence concerning alleged ransom payments. One report from the trial said victims told the court they had collectively paid more than ₦63 million to secure their release in separate alleged abductions linked to the defendants.
Raphael, who was identified during the trial as the fourth defendant, had denied involvement in the alleged kidnapping activities. She told the court during her defence that she was a corn seller and said she did not know her boyfriend, Marvellous Isaac, was involved in kidnapping.
The judgment marks the first major conviction from the newly established special court and is expected to draw attention to Edo State's approach to the prosecution of kidnapping cases.
Note: The specific sentencing details in the lead statement above are based on the judgment information supplied for this report. The latest indexed reports I found had only confirmed that the court was scheduled to deliver its first judgment on September 29, before the full judgment details appeared online.