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Senate Proposes Death Penalty for Kidnappers

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Nigeria’s Senate proposes death penalty for kidnappers, enablers, and financiers under terrorism law amendments to curb rising insecurity.

The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday moved to toughen the country’s anti-kidnapping laws, proposing the death penalty for kidnappers and anyone who finances, enables, or provides information to them.

Also read: Senate orders NAFDAC to end Sachet Alcohol production by December 31, 2025

The amendment, sponsored by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, reclassifies kidnapping, hostage-taking, and related crimes as terrorism.

The plenary session, presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, featured contributions from key senators including Adams Oshiomhole, Orji Uzor Kalu, and Minority Leader Abba Moro.

After extensive debate, lawmakers unanimously approved the bill for further legislative scrutiny, referring it to the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, National Security and Intelligence, and Interior, with a report due within two weeks.

Bamidele argued the measure was necessary to confront kidnapping as a “coordinated, commercialised and militarised” threat.

He said the crimes had instilled fear in communities, disrupted economic and agricultural activity, bankrupted families, overstretched security forces, and claimed countless lives.

“The patterns of brutality now carry all the characteristics of terrorism,” Bamidele said, noting that security agencies would be empowered with broader operational authority, intelligence capabilities, and prosecutorial tools.

He added that the death penalty would apply not only to kidnappers but also to informants, logistics providers, harbourers, transporters, and anyone knowingly facilitating abductions.

Backing the amendment, Oshiomhole criticised deradicalisation programmes, insisting that convicted terrorists should face the death penalty.

Kalu emphasised that enablers and sponsors of kidnappers must also “face the consequence.” Minority Leader Moro described the bill as a “unanimous decision of the Senate,” aiming to ensure accountability.

Senator Victor Umeh highlighted the need to scrutinise financial institutions that indirectly support kidnappers.

The bill follows growing insecurity, including a November 18 attack on Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, in Kwara State, where gunmen killed two worshippers and abducted 38 others, later rescued.

Also read: Senator Daniel’s Senate Navy Committee Oversight Spotlights Naval Gaps

The proposed amendments form part of a broader legislative response to rising abductions in schools, rural communities, and Federal Unity Colleges nationwide, signalling a more stringent stance on kidnapping across Nigeria.

 

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EFCC Fugitive Killed in Makurdi Gun Duel Clash

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EFCC

EFCC Fugitive Makurdi Gun Duel leaves a suspect dead after a clash between security operatives and alleged cult members in Benue State

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Abuja Court Jails Mother of Two for Stabbing Boyfriend to Death

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Court in Abuja sentences a 22-year-old cleaner to 20 years for fatal stabbing of her boyfriend during a fight in Kurudu, FCT (more…)

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NSCDC Shut Inner Galaxy Steel Factory After Infrastructure Theft Burst

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The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Professor Ahmed Abubakar Audi, has read a riot act to economic saboteurs and vandals across the country, stating unequivocally that there is no hiding place for vandals who prey on the nation’s commonwealth and national critical assets. While addressing the media in his Abuja office, the NSCDC boss disclosed that; his leadership will smoke them out of their hiding spots and make them face the full wrath of the law.

He further disclosed that; the NSCDC has secured a sweeping court order and have sealed all operational branches of Inner Galaxy Steel Company and Jiuxing Integrity Industrial Ltd nationwide for railway materials vandalism and other grave infractions. Issuing a strict directive to the Commandant in charge of the Special Intelligence Squad, Appollos Dandaura, the CG ensured that operatives maintain absolute diligence and professionalism throughout this high-impact operation, declaring that every single suspect found culpable in this bleeding of the nation’s commonwealth will face the full wrath of the law.

This landmark action follows the recent exposure of a highly sophisticated syndicate allegedly responsible for the systematic vandalism and theft of Nigeria’s critical public infrastructure, including railway lines, power transmission equipment and telecommunications assets, with authorities now linking the stolen materials to an industrial-scale recycling operation run by the steel companies and proceeds suspected of financing terrorist activities.

Armed with valid search warrants and the newly secured court order, operatives from the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad stormed the Birnin Yero facility in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, where they recovered large quantities of railway sleepers, steel tracks and other vandalized infrastructure components, all of which have been officially secured and transferred to the Nigerian Railway Corporation to be preserved as vital exhibits for the impending prosecution.

According to confessions extracted from arrested staff, the syndicate operated a well-coordinated logistics network, routinely transporting vandalized national infrastructure from various attack sites to the company’s headquarters in Aba, Abia State, as well as to other branches, where the stolen steel was melted down in industrial furnaces and recycled into commercial products including nails, roofing sheets, and reinforcement bars sold to unsuspecting members of the public.

Suspects linked to the syndicate are now facing a raft of severe criminal allegations, including conspiracy to commit felony and theft, intentional endangering of the safety of persons traveling by railway, obstruction, injury, and damage to railway infrastructure, failure to give notice or information to a public officer, dishonestly receiving and assisting in the concealment of stolen property, and giving support and financing to terrorist groups for the commission of acts of terrorism.

Consequent upon the discoveries in Kaduna and further intelligence gathering, the closure and investigation orders have been extended to cover the headquarters of Inner Galaxy Steel Company and Jiuxing Integrity Industrial Ltd in Ahala Ukwa Village, Umuahala Community, Obuzor Ukwu, Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State, as well as the northern hub in Tasha Rawayyah, Gusau, Zamfara State, along with all other branches and subsidiaries nationwide.

The NSCDC has formally summoned the Chinese nationals involved in the management of the industrial complex; however, they are yet to appear before investigators, raising potential diplomatic and legal complexities, though the CG reaffirmed that the NSCDC remains fiercely committed to reducing infrastructure vandalism to the absolute minimum.

The Corps expressed profound gratitude to the judiciary for the swift granting of these legal instruments, which prevented further interference with crucial evidence, and also commended the press for their vital partnership in shining a bright light on these economic crimes, ensuring transparency and public accountability. Members of the public are strongly urged to continue collaborating with the Corps by sharing credible, timely information to help bring an end to infrastructure theft across Nigeria.

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