Kidnappers to get life jail; rapists in for tough time

The Senate yesterday endorsed a proposal that anybody found guilty of kidnapping should be jailed for life as against the 10year imprisonment provision contained in the current law.

The upper legislative arm also approved the removal of a two-month Statue of Limitation on the prosecution of rape offenders as contained in the Criminal Code Act.

These came to light as an amendment of the Criminal Code Act, 2014, passed second reading on Tuesday.

The legislators are amending the Act to review some provisions in it and replace them with stiffer ones.

The bill was sponsored by Senator Oluremi Tinubu (APC, Lagos Central).

Leading the debate, Tinubu said the frequency of kidnap across the federation and its resulting trauma, not to mention the number of lives lost to the crime, made it imperative to review the laws with a view to ensuring appropriate punishment for perpetrators and deterrence for would-be perpetrators.

“Thus, this bill proffers a life sentence for persons found guilty of kidnapping,” she said.

She noted that the current Section 364 of the act proffers a punishment of imprisonment for a term of 10 years where a crime of kidnap is established.

The amendment bill also seeks an amendment to Section 221 of the Criminal Code which provides that “where a person has or attempts carnal knowledge of a girl being of or above the age of 13 and under the age 16, an ‘idiot or imbecile’, he shall be liable to imprisonment for a period of two years provided that the prosecution is commenced within two months after the offence is committed.”