Some States Including Enugu, Kano, Others To Enforce Death Penalty Against Kidnapping
No fewer than ten states in Nigeria, have vowed to implement the death sentence and life imprisonment for convicted kidnappers.
This is due to the growing concern over the raging abduction epidemic in the country.
The states made this known on Tuesday as the Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, deployed intelligence squads to state commands and formations to tackle the wave of abductions and other crimes across the country.
States including Kano, Benue, Bayelsa, Enugu, Anambra, and Nasarawa and another northern state in separate interviews affirmed their commitment towards applying the death sentence to anyone convicted of kidnapping in their jurisdictions.
Officials of Kwara, Ondo, and Osun states vowed to ensure the implementation of relevant anti-kidnapping laws including life imprisonment.
The nation has been on edge over the wave of abductions sweeping across several states and the Federal Capital Territory in the past few weeks.
Dozens of victims have been abducted by gunmen and millions of naira extorted from them in what appeared to be an organised criminal enterprise.
In Kano State, the Director-General of Media and Publicity, Sanusi Tofa, confirmed that the administration of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf would apply the anti-kidnapping law which prescribed the death sentence for convicts.
“We will continue with the death sentence on kidnappers as approved by the immediate past administration,’’ Tofa said on Tuesday.
The Anti-kidnapping, Abduction and Forced Labour Bill were signed into law by the immediate past administration of former governor Abdullahi Ganduje after its passage by the state House of Assembly in October 2016.
The anti-kidnapping law had been in existence since the colonial era, but it did not provide any serious punishment for kidnappers until it was amended by the state assembly.
Under the revised law, any person found guilty of kidnapping would face life imprisonment without an option of a fine.
However, the former governor in 2019 approved the death penalty for anyone found guilty of kidnapping across the state.
“The law provides for death sentence for kidnappers who abduct and kill their victim, while kidnappers who abduct but did not kill their victim, if apprehended and found culpable, would be jailed for life”, Ganduje had said while signing the amended bill into law in 2019.
On his part, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order in Benue State, Fidelis Mnyim, assured that the administration of Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia was committed to the implementation of the anti-kidnapping law which stipulated the death sentence for abductors.
He said, “The present administration is 100 per cent committed to the implementation of anti-kidnapping law of the state.’’
The Bayelsa Anti-kidnapping law, which was christened ‘Bayelsa State Kidnapping and Allied Offences Act, 2013’, prescribed the death sentence for the offence of kidnapping.
It was assented to by former governor Seriake Dickson after it was passed by the House of Assembly.
The legislation empowers the governor to sign the death warrant of a person or group of persons convicted for the crime of kidnapping and other related crimes.
The Commissioner for Justice in Anambra State, Prof. Chika Ifemeje, could not be reached for comment but an official in the justice ministry said the Anambra State House of Assembly had amended the state Criminal Code, making it an offence punishable by death for any person convicted of kidnapping.
The official said, “The legislators at one of their plenary sessions amended sections 315 and 316 of the Criminal Code to stipulate capital punishment for offenders.
“Although, no offender has yet been punished and there is no plan yet to review the laws to recommend life imprisonment, the state government, through the relevant agencies and security apparatus, is doing everything possible to ensure strict enforcement of anti-kidnapping laws.”
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