Death penalty for kidnappers
To halt the heinous crime of kidnapping that has become a major threat to the safety of Nigerians, the Senate on Wednesday October 4, 2017 approved death penalty as the punishment for anyone found guilty of abduction, wrongful restraints or wrongful confinement for ransom. This resolution followed the adoption of a report by the Joint Committee on Police Affairs, National Security and Intelligence presented by its Chairman, Senator Abu Ibrahim.
The Senate Joint Committee observed that security agencies were unable to perform optimally due to inadequate support which it said deprived them of the necessary funding required to procure and deploy modern technology and equipment to sufficiently combat crimes. The Committee equally noted what it described as “unnecessary and unhealthy rivalry among security agencies” which denies them the benefit of synergy and intelligence sharing. Although relations of victims were always ready to pay ransom, which tend to encourage criminals to perpetrate their act, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu said there is need to discourage the payment of ransom.
The Senate Committee recommended adequate funding for security agencies and advised the federal government to ensure that deliberate efforts are made toward creating employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths. The Senate also tasked security agencies to embark on training and retraining of security personnel for effective capacity building. Besides, it charged state governments to make laws that will enable security agencies to prosecute kidnappers and culprits of related offences in their respective states.
Kidnapping which started in the Niger Delta region of the country with the abduction of foreign oil workers has gradually advanced into a flourishing nation-wide business for criminals. Many parts of the country now suffer from it. The ordeal that victims of kidnapping and their families go through has made armed robbery a less feared crime. These days, mass abduction of bus passengers has been added to the equation. The entire Northwest zone of the country was recently hit by a gale of kidnapping. Kidnappers operated almost freely on the AbujaKaduna expressway, Birnin Gwari-Kaduna road; ObajanaLokoja, Ajaokuta-Lokoja and Kabba-Obajana roads in Kogi state. The Benin-Akure road in Edo State is another notorious route for kidnappers.
In the Committee’s report submitted to the Senate, DirectorGeneral of the Department of State Security [DSS] Lawal Daura was quoted as saying in October 2015 alone, Nigeria recorded 108 cases of kidnapping. He said the cases which involved 180 victims including 26 foreigners occurred in 24 states of the federation. In July this year, a permanent secretary with the Osun State government Mrs. Olufunke Oluwakemi Kolawole was kidnapped on the Okene-Abuja highway. Her body was later found on the road. On September 18, 2017 a Kaduna businessman Alhaji Sheriff Abidu Yazid was shot dead on the Kaduna-Abuja expressway and his wife was abducted. An Assistant Commissioner of Police with the Zamfara State Police Command, Emmanuel Agene was abducted on Wednesday September 27, 2017 along Birnin Gwari-Funtua road and was released after being held for six days.
In spite of the arrest of a large number of suspected kidnappers by the police, the heinous crime still rages on in parts of the country. It is also unfortunate that even with the existence of death penalty for kidnappers in some states including Enugu, Edo and Lagos; no culprit has yet been condemned to death. This is why we support the adoption of capital punishment for kidnappers. Given the traumatic experience that victims and their relations go through, death penalty should be the just deserts of any convicted kidnapper.
We urge Police investigators to be thorough in their jobs in order to facilitate and ease proper prosecution and eventual conviction of suspects. While we encourage other states to domesticate the anti-kidnap law of the Senate, we call on President Muhammadu Buhari to, without delay, assent to the bill. All hands must be on deck to stamp kidnapping from this country.