By Kazeem Ugbodaga

In a decisive step aimed at confronting Nigeria’s worsening security challenges, the Senate on Wednesday strongly backed amendments to the 2022 Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, insisting that kidnapping and related offences must attract the death penalty for all perpetrators, sponsors, informants, and anyone who knowingly facilitates the crime.

The chamber, presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, engaged in an intense debate before unanimously advancing the bill to the next stage.

Akpabio referred the bill to the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters; National Security and Intelligence; and Interior, with a directive to report back within two weeks.

Leading the debate, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the amendment became necessary because kidnapping had evolved from isolated criminal acts into “coordinated, commercialised, and militarised” operations that mirror terrorism.

According to him, “What were once isolated incidents have escalated into coordinated, commercialised, and militarised acts of violence perpetrated by organised criminal groups.”

Bamidele argued that the scale of brutality, organisation and destabilisation linked to kidnapping makes ordinary criminal sanctions inadequate.

He said: “Kidnapping has instilled widespread fear in communities; undermined national economic activities and agricultural output; interrupted children’s education; bankrupted families forced to pay ransom; overstretched our security forces, and claimed countless innocent lives.”

Declaring that the act now carries all the hallmarks of terrorism, he added: “This is not a mere crime. It is terrorism in its purest form.”

The proposed amendment designates kidnapping and hostage-taking as acts of terrorism and prescribes death penalty without an option of fine.

Bamidele further clarified: “The bill prescribes death penalty not only for perpetrators and financiers, but also for their informants, logistics providers, harbourers, transporters, and anyone who knowingly assists, facilitates, or supports kidnapping operations. Attempt, conspiracy, or incitement to kidnap attracts the same penalty.”

He stressed that the measure was necessary to protect Nigerian lives: “If an offence repeatedly results in mass murder, mass fear, mass displacement, and systemic destabilisation, then the strongest legal sanction becomes necessary.”

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, Adams Oshiomhole, strongly supported the amendment and criticised Nigeria’s deradicalisation programmes, saying they had failed to deter violent offenders.

He warned: “A terrorist will be arrested and allowed to go without facing the consequence of his crimes in the name of deradicalisation. Some of these guys went back to their crimes. No more deradicalisation. If you are caught and convicted for acts of terrorism, then the penalty should be death.”

Senator Orji Uzor Kalu echoed widespread support for the bill, insisting that those behind kidnapping networks must face the law fully.

He lamented: “Nigerians have suffered in the hands of kidnappers. Young girls have been raped. Women have become widows for no reason. This must not continue again.”

Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro described the bill as straightforward and necessary.

He stated that “This is a unanimous decision of the Senate, kidnappers must face capital punishment.”

Senator Victor Umeh condemned the “gruesome murders” that accompany kidnapping and called for a deeper investigation into the networks enabling the crime.

He warned that “We should do everything to amend the Terrorism Act to classify kidnapping and hostage-taking as acts of terrorism. We have to dig into the people who facilitate this criminal enterprise. Financial institutions are also part of it.”

The Senate committees are expected to conduct a public hearing and fine-tune the bill before returning it to plenary.

If passed into law, the amendment would significantly expand the powers of security agencies to trace funds, dismantle criminal networks, and prosecute anyone connected to kidnapping under Nigeria’s counter-terrorism laws.

Source; PM News