Courts in Edo, Sokoto Slam Death Sentence Against Kidnappers

The Edo State Special Offences Court has convicted four kidnappers and sentenced one of them, identified as RUFUS EMETE MICHAEL, to death by hanging or through lethal injection.

The other three convicted kidnappers include MARVELLOUS ISAAC and WISDOM MICHAEL, as well as a female member of the gang, GIFT RAPHAEL, were sentenced to seven years in prison.

The convicts are the first of criminals to be tried before the Edo State Special Offences Court, set up Governor MONDAY OKPEBHOLO, and their charged with kidnapping, conspiracy, armed robbery, cultism, and unlawful possession of firearms.

Elsewhere, a Sokoto State High Court sitting in the capital city has sentenced one IBRAHIM USMAN to death for kidnaping and murder of three persons in September 2023.

The Department of State Services, DSS, arraigned IBRAHIM USMAN, also known as DAN IYALI, alongside other suspects still at large, on a four-count charge of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, culpable homicide, and voluntarily causing grievous hurt without provocation.

The three other convicts who were tried in absentia include JABBI ALHAJI YALLE and KABIRU MUHAMMAD, as well as YUSUF MUHAMMAD, also known as SALLAU, who is from Niger Republic.