Just in: Senate approves death sentence for kidnappers

– Senate believe the new law will curb kidnapping in Nigeria – The senators believe there should be training and retraining of security personnel The Senate on Wednesday, May 4, resolved to enact a law prescribing death penalty for kidnappers to serve as deterrent and curb kidnapping in Nigeria. This followed the adoption of recommendations of the report of by the Joint Committee on Police Affairs, National Security and Intelligence on the ‘unfortunate reoccurrence of kidnapping and hostage taking’. Although the report had only six recommendations, most of the senators sued for stringent punishment to serve as deterrent which prompted the addition and adoption of the recommendation for death penalty. The additional recommendation for capital punishment was proposed by Senator Adamu Alliero and adopted by the Senate. The Senate also adopted the recommendation that the funding of security agencies be taken as a priority project while efforts should be geared to create employment opportunity to our teaming unemployed youths. Senate also resolved that the security agencies should embark on training and retraining of their personnel while also urging state governments to enact laws to aid prosecution of kidnappers. The upper chamber of the legislature also advocated for more vigorous information sharing among security agencies while also encouraging heads of security agencies to do more in checking kidnapping. While presenting the report of the Joint Committee, Senator Abu Ibrahim (APC Katsina South) said that kidnapping which started in some regions had now become a nationwide menace. He noted that the security agencies knew the mode of operation of the kidnappers but were usually hampered by availability of funds. The report further noted that there was undue rivalry between security agencies which brought about lack of synergy. Some of the senators who spoke insisted that kidnapping had remained prevalent because there was no appropriate punishment meted out to kidnappers. Some insist that the practice of always paying ransoms rather than waiting for security agencies to apprehend the culprits had made the `kidnapping business’ profitable. The deputy Senate president, Ike Ekwerenmadu said that Nigerians had encouraged kidnapping by panicking and paying ransom too quickly. He said that the kidnappers were normal human being and were usually in a hurry to get done with the business and move on without being caught. Senator Ovie Omo-Agege stressed that there was need for intelligence sharing between communities and the security agencies. He stressed that most times, members of a community know the criminal elements among them and could give such information to the police if there were adequate information sharing. Senator Dino Melaye (APC Kogi West) in his submission, recommended that kidnappers should be hung or made to face firing squad.In his remark, the Senate president, Bukola Saraki commended the committee for a job well done, stressing that there was need for a more stringent law.