THE SENATE on Wednesday passed for second reading a bill to designate kidnapping as an act of terrorism.
The bill was sponsored by the Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, and co-sponsored by 108 senators during plenary.
The legislation is entitled: “A bill for an Act to Amend the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act to Designate Kidnapping, Hostage-Taking and Related Offences as Acts of Terrorism…To Prescribe Death Penalty for Such Offences Without Option of Fine or Alternative Sentence; And For Related Matters, 2025”.
Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill, the Bamidele justified the gravity of the prescribed penalty for kidnapping, hostage-taking and other related offences.
According to him, such offences have become one of the most pervasive and destructive crimes in the country today.
“What were once isolated incidents have escalated into coordinated, commercialised and militarised acts of violence perpetrated by organised criminal groups.
“Across every region of our country, 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.
“The patterns of organisation, brutality and destabilisation associated with kidnapping now carry all the characteristics of terrorism.
“It is no longer adequate to treat these acts as ordinary criminal offences. The legal framework must reflect the true magnitude of the threat,” he said.
The majority leader further stated that classifying kidnapping, hostage-taking and other related offences as acts of terrorism would, no doubt, empower security agencies with broader operational authority and intelligence capabilities.
In his contribution, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu (APC-Abia) said that since the senate had unanimously agreed with the bill, it was natural for the lawmakers to approve it.
“As a consequence, informants, sponsors and everybody involved in kidnapping, hostage-takers and other related offences must face the consequence.
“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,” he said.
Also, Sen. Victor Umeh (LP-Anambra) condemned in strong terms kidnapping and gruesome murder of victims for no just cause.
He said that the trend of such crimes would compel men of conscience to rise in support of the bill.
“They will collect ransom and still kill their victims. We should do everything to amend the Terrorism Act to classify kidnapping, hostage-taking and other related offences as acts of terrorism.
“We have to dig into the people who facilitate this criminal enterprise. Financial institutions are also part of it,” he said.
In his remarks, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said that the bill was not something over which much debate should be done.
Rather, he said that the bill should be fast tracked and sent for public hearing, and eventually sent for concurrence to the House of Representatives.
Akpabio urged the senators to show resoluteness and seriousness in tackling security challenges in the country.
“By the time we pass the bill, it will override whatever is done in the states. We have to protect the future of Nigerians,” he said.
The senate president, thereafter, referred the bill to the Senate Committees on Judiciary, National Security and Intelligence and Interior for further legislative actions and report back in two weeks.(NAN)
