The Senate on Tuesday moved to impose life sentence for the offence of kidnapping, wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement for ransom, particularly where death results from the act.
It also sought to ensure that recipients of any proceeds from kidnapping are imprisoned for up to 30 years.
This followed a Bill sponsored by Senator Ibikunle Amosun (APC-Osun).
The Bill which scaled second reading on the floor of the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly also proposed to give the Inspector General of Police wider powers to enable adequate policing of the crime of kidnapping.
In his lead debate, Amosun said the Bill was read for the first time on Wednesday, June 30, 2021.
According to him, the proposed legislation seeks to proffer stricter and more stringent punishment for the offence of kidnappings, and bring to an end the debate on the adequacy or otherwise of punishment for kidnapping and other related crimes, like false imprisonment.
Titled “Abduction, Wrongful Restraints and Confinement Bill 2021,” it further compels concerned members of the public to give information to the police.
Quoting statistics from a specialist crisis prevention and response Consultancy group, Neil Young Associates (NYA), and a 13 July 2021 Vanguard report, the lawmaker disclosed that Nigeria accounted for 26% of kidnapping and ransom incidents globally.
He added that “an average of 13 persons were abducted daily in Nigeria in the first half of 2021, bringing to 2,371 the number of reported persons kidnapped in the country within the first six months of the year.”
This is as he disclosed that “thousands of kidnappings take place in Nigeria annually, but many cases go unreported.”
While maintaining that the scourge is one of the major security challenges facing the country in recent time, the Osun lawmaker pointed outthat its impact on economic and daily life has been devastating.
In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, referred the Bill to the committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to report back in four weeks.
