Amid the growing concern over the raging abduction epidemic in the country, no fewer than ten states have vowed to implement the death sentence and life imprisonment for convicted kidnappers.
The states made the vow 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 to 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.”
An official of a state in the North-Central pointed out that in the state where a kidnapping incident involved death, the perpetrators would face the death penalty while a case that did not result in the death of the victim would attract a life sentence.
Nasarawa laws
In Nasarawa, the State Kidnapping Act Prohibition Law, 2020, stipulates the death penalty on conviction and forfeiture of any property used by kidnappers while the owner of such a property would be liable to 20 years in jail.
Governor Abdullahi Sule assented to the bill passed by the state House of Assembly.
He explained that the law was enacted to tackle kidnapping, conspiracy to kidnap, attempt to kidnap, fake kidnap, false representation to release a kidnapped victim, and assisting in the escape of kidnappers.
Speaking on the measures put in place to eliminate abductions in Ondo, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Mr Charles Titiloye, confirmed that the anti-kidnapping law was being implemented in the state.
The law, he noted, was passed to protect the people of the state.
The commissioner said, “ The bill was signed into law by the Dr Olusegun Mimiko administration. The penalty is life imprisonment.”
A former speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr Taofeek Abdulsalam, explained that the law was passed by the sixth assembly in the state, adding that the penalty for kidnapping is life imprisonment for the offender.
He said, “ It was passed into law during our time (Sixth Assembly) and the penalty is life imprisonment.”
On his part, the Kwara State AG and Commissioner for Justice, Ibrahim Suleiman, disclosed that the penalty for kidnapping in the state is life imprisonment.
However, in a move to reinforce the onslaught against abductions, the IG on Tuesday ordered the posting of 54 Assistant Commissioners of Police to head the Force Intelligence Departments at zonal and state command levels nationwide.
Egbetokun had in September 2023 approved the upscaling of the Force Intelligence Bureau to the Force Intelligence Department.
In Enugu, the State Government has vowed to implement the provisions of the Anti-kidnapping Law 2009 to the letter.
The state Commissioner for Information, Mr Aka Eze, says that the Enugu State government led by Governor Peter Mbah doesn’t joke or compromise with the security of lives and properties of her citizens.
“We will implement every law that will curb insecurity in the state including kidnapping. We have laws in Enugu state that have remained dormant until we came on board.
“Therefore, the onus is on us to not only implement extant laws to secure lives and property but also strengthen them or even make new ones as if necessary.”
He added, “Security of lives and property is the number one priority as far as the Governor Peter Mbah administration is concerned. This is what Section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) demands of every government
“Enugu State, under Mbah, has no room, no forest, and no space for criminals.”
The PUNCH reports that the Enugu State House of Assembly on February 19, 2009, unanimously passed into law a bill making kidnapping with the use of a gun a capital offence in the State.
The law, however, stipulates a 10-year imprisonment for anybody found guilty of kidnapping without the use of a weapon.
The law which took effect from February 19, 2009, was an amendment of the original law which carried 10 years imprisonment.
Meanwhile, a legal practitioner, Rabiu Musa, advised the Federal Government to emulate Plateau State by imposing the death penalty on anyone found guilty of kidnapping-related offences.
