Governor Monday Okpebholo. Photo: Edo State Government.
Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has said he will sign the death warrants of four convicted kidnappers if they do not appeal their sentences within what he described as a stipulated 30-day period.
The governor spoke during a fellowship at God’s People Worldwide Prayer Ministry, where he reviewed his administration’s response to kidnapping, cultism and other violent crimes.
The four were sentenced to death on September 29 by the Edo State Special Criminal Court over the abduction of a woman at the Vegetable Market along Airport Road, Benin City.
Justice Aigbona Momodu delivered the judgment following proceedings involving charges including kidnapping, conspiracy, armed robbery, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms.
Okpebholo said the market abduction prompted him to contact President Bola Tinubu and instruct the police commissioner to secure the perpetrators’ arrest.
He also said he had warned traditional rulers against intervening on behalf of people involved in kidnapping or cultism.
However, an earlier report on the convictions quoted lawyer Olayiwola Afolabi urging the governor to allow the convicts 90 days to appeal. That differs from the period cited by Okpebholo.
The governor’s remarks therefore describe his intended action, rather than establish the applicable appeal deadline or confirm that execution procedures have been completed.
The reports reviewed did not establish whether the four convicts had filed appeals or whether the governor had already signed any death warrants following the court’s judgment.
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