Crime
Senate Proposes Death Penalty for Kidnappers
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.
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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.
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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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Police arrest seven suspected kidnappers in Abuja and Kaduna, recover Oluwadamilola Adedayo’s body and seize AK-47 rifles and ammunition
The Nigeria Police Force has arrested seven suspected members of a kidnapping syndicate operating in the Federal Capital Territory and Kaduna State, recovering the remains of a woman allegedly abducted and killed by the gang.
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The police said the decomposing body of Oluwadamilola Adedayo was recovered from the suspects’ camp in Tukuba Forest, Kuje, Abuja, on October 19, 2026, following an intelligence-led investigation.
The victim was abducted alongside her mother, Nancy Adedayo, her 12-year-old brother, David Adedayo, and their housemaid, Jennifer David, during a gunpoint raid on their residence on Adedayo Adeosun Street, Kuchiyako, Kuje, on August 23.
According to the police, the kidnappers released the victim’s mother about an hour after the abduction to arrange ransom payment, while the housemaid and the boy were assaulted and abandoned unconscious in a forest.
They later regained consciousness and found their way home.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, the Commander of the Force Intelligence Department’s Special Tactical Squad, ACP Godfrey Victor, said the operation followed a petition referred by the Inspector-General of Police’s Secretariat on October 15.
He said intelligence gathering led to the arrest of two suspects in Rijana community, Kaduna State, while five others were subsequently apprehended in Sagbon Lugbe, Abuja, through a joint operation involving police officers, vigilante operatives and other security agencies.
“On 19th October 2026, operatives led by ACP Victor Ogbiede Godfrey proceeded to the gang’s camp at Tukuba Forest, Kuje, FCT, where the decomposing body of Miss Oluwadamilola Adedayo was recovered,” he said.
Victor said the family paid N16.2m for the release of the abducted children, but the suspects allegedly demanded an additional N50m before releasing Oluwadamilola.
The police identified the seven suspects as Ishaka Abdullahi, 27, also known as Langalanga; Abdullahi Dabo, 42; Abubakar Jibrin, 20, also known as Mai-Laya; Barahu Ibrahim, 24, also known as Black; Sani Mohammed, 24; Alidu Lawal, 18, also known as De Jaguar; and Yakubu Abubakar, 28, also known as Soldier.
The suspects remain allegations under investigation and have not been convicted by a court.
The operation also resulted in the recovery of weapons and other items allegedly linked to the syndicate.
According to Victor, the exhibits included four AK-47 rifles, a locally made revolver pistol, 63 rounds of live ammunition, a mobile phone allegedly used for ransom negotiations, N400,000 and a motorcycle.
He added that investigators had linked the group to the abduction of a businessman, John Ali, in Kuje on September 24.
The police said investigations were continuing as they worked to establish the full extent of the syndicate’s activities and gather evidence for prosecution.
Oluwadamilola’s father expressed gratitude to the Inspector-General of Police and the officers involved in the investigation, but said the family remained devastated by her death.
“The kidnapping and murder of our beloved daughter, Oluwadamilola, at this time has left our family in deep pain. However, the support and assurance from the leadership of the police force has given us strength and hope that justice will prevail,” he said.
He urged the police to pursue the investigation to its conclusion and ensure that everyone found responsible was brought to justice.
“We continue to appeal to the police, with the help of Almighty God, to get to the root of this matter and ensure that all those responsible for this wicked act are brought to book,” he added.
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The arrests mark a significant development in the investigation into the family’s abduction, although the police have yet to announce the outcome of the prosecution process.
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