A bill proposing life imprisonment for the offence of
kidnapping or any form of abduction, wrongful restraint and confinement on
Tuesday passed second reading in the Senate.
The bill sponsored by Senator Ibikunle Amosun (APC, Ogun
Central) seeks to, among others, introduce stiffer punishments and punitive
measures to combat and prevent kidnapping in Nigeria.
Leading debate on the bill, Senator Amosun observed that
kidnapping is a major security challenge confronting Nigeria in recent times.
According to the lawmaker, the light punishment for the
offence has continued to make it grow and assume horrendous dimensions with a
negative impact on the economy.
“The impact of kidnapping on both economic and daily life
has been devastating.
“For many Nigerians, kidnapping is far more devastating than
the carnage of Boko Haram in the northeast, or the carnage in the middle belt
over land, pasture and water use between farmers and herders.
“In the rich oil south-south, kidnapping is often seen as a
manifestation of the insurrection over how oil revenue is distributed.
“Overtime, the pool of potential victims has shockingly been
expanded. No, most victims are often poor villagers, sometimes kidnapped
indiscriminately, a departure from the targeted kidnapping of wealthy people.
They struggle to pay ransoms because of their relative poverty; and this has
resulted into many victims being killed in the process”, he said.
Amosun lamented that, “Nigeria has one of the rates of
kidnaps for ransom of both locals and foreigners in all of Africa.”
He added, “while the insurgents in the North East now thrive
on the proceeds of kidnappings, criminal elements in the South East and South
West are also having a field day. In fact, kidnapping has now become a big and
lucrative business.”
Citing recent statistics released by Neil Young Associates
International – a specialist crisis prevention and response consultancy group –
the lawmaker noted that Nigeria accounted for 26 percent of kidnapping and
ransom incidents globally.
Similarly, Amosun said that a Vanguard report published
online on July 13, 2021, states that an average of 13 persons were abducted
daily in Nigeria in the first half of 2021, bringing to 2,371 the number of
reported persons kidnapped in the country within the first six months of the
year.
He bemoaned the worrisome development, warning that the
trend has the potential of negatively affecting Nigeria’s Foreign Direct
Investment.
The lawmaker stated that the bill, therefore, seeks to
introduce stiffer punishment for the offence of abduction, wrongful restraint
and confinement for ransom.
“This bill also provides more punitive measures for
ancillary crimes flowing from the commission of the crime of abduction, like
death or grievous harm.
“To achieve the deterrent effect, life imprisonment is
proposed for the offence of kidnapping, particularly where death results from
the act.
“The law is made stricter by ensuring that recipients of any
proceeds of the act of kidnapping are heavily sanctioned with a term of
imprisonment of up to 30 years”, Amosun said.
The bill, according to him, also proposes to give the
Inspector General of Police wider powers to enable adequate policing of the
crime of kidnapping.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, referred the bill after
it was exhaustively debated, to the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and
Legal Matters.
The Committee which is chaired by Senator Michael Opeyemi
Bamidele was given four weeks to report back to the upper chamber.
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