The Senate on Tuesday passed for second reading a bill which proposes life imprisonment as punitive measures for kidnapping in the country.
The bill tagged Abduction, Wrongful Restraint And Confinement Bill 2021 also recommends a jail term of 30 years for recipients of Proceeds of acts of kidnapping
According to the sponsor of the bill Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Oyelaja Ogun Central, the bill seeks to proffer stricter and more stringent punishment for the offence of kidnappings, and bring to an end the debate of the adequacy or punishment for kidnapping and other related crimes, like false imprisonment.
Senator Ibikunle says, the highest term of imprisonment prescribed for kidnapping in the Criminal and penal Code Acts is ten years.
He says, the light punishment against these offences has not helped in deterring the spate of abductions and kidnappings that have now become prevalent in the country.
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According to the Ogun state lawmaker, the pool of potential victims has shockingly been expanded to poor villagers, a departure from the targeted kidnapping of wealthy citizens
However, the struggle to pay ransoms because of their relative poverty has resulted into many victims being killed in the process.
According to him Nigeria accounts for over 26% of kidnapping and ransom incidents globally, and thousands of these incidences go unreported.
(Editor-Abaje Usekwe)
