Governor Okpebholo wants to hang kidnappers at Ring Road roundabout

Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has stirred serious debate after he said he will set up special courts to try kidnappers and cultists, and once convicted he will personally sign their death warrants. He made this known yesterday during the parade of arrested suspects by the Edo Police Command in Benin City. The man did not mince words at all.

According to reports, Okpebholo told the suspects directly: "Now we are going to set up a special court to try kidnappers and cultists, within two or three weeks we are done with it and I will sign your warrant for execution or hanging. I will take you to the roundabout, that is a ring road, so that the whole people will see you." He also warned that anyone aiding criminals in Edo should stop because the government is not sleeping.

Among those paraded was a 45-year-old woman named Oluchi Ugbowan who conspired with accomplices to stage her own kidnapping and demanded N50 million from her family. The police commissioner said technical intelligence led to her arrest in a hotel in Obiaruku, Delta State. This is a governor who is clearly tired of the kidnapping menace in the South-South. But my question is whether this tough talk will translate into actual convictions or just remain political theatre.