The Nigerian National Assembly launched a two-pronged legislative assault on the nation’s security crisis on Wednesday, with both the Senate and the House of Representatives demanding capital punishment for kidnappers and calling for the public naming and prosecution of terrorism financiers across the country.
The calls for radical measures dominated plenary sessions in both chambers as lawmakers debated immediate steps to address escalating insecurity, including a sharp rise in mass abductions targeting schools and worship centers.
The Senate took the most extreme measure, debating sweeping amendments to the 2022 Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act. The proposal, sponsored by the Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, seeks to classify kidnapping, hostage-taking and related crimes as terrorism, granting security agencies wider powers for disruption and prosecution.
Leading the debate, Bamidele defined the bill’s purpose as being to “designate kidnapping, hostage-taking and related offences as acts of terrorism and prescribe the death penalty for such offences without option of fine or alternative sentence.”
He warned that kidnapping had evolved into “coordinated, commercialised and militarised acts of violence perpetrated by organised criminal groups.” The Senate leader lamented the profound impact on national life: “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.”
Bamidele argued that the patterns of brutality associated with kidnapping “now carry all the characteristics of terrorism,” necessitating its inclusion under the counter-terrorism framework. He stressed that the death penalty would apply not only to kidnappers but also to: “their informants, logistics providers, harbourers, transporters, and anyone who knowingly assists, facilitates, or supports kidnapping operations,” adding that “attempt, conspiracy or incitement to kidnap attracts the same penalty.” He concluded the necessity of the law sharply: “Nigerians are kidnapped on highways, in schools, in homes, on farms and in markets. This is not a mere crime. It is terrorism in its purest form.”
Senior lawmakers offered strong support for the capital punishment provision. Senator Adams Oshiomhole criticised soft treatment for suspects, stating: “We should not continue with deradicalisation programmes again. No more de-radicalisation. If you are caught and convicted for acts of terrorism, then the penalty should be death.”
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu insisted that informants and sponsors of kidnappers must “face the consequence,” adding a powerful human element to the debate: “Nigerians have suffered at the hands of kidnappers. Young girls have been raped. Women have become widows for no reason. This must not continue again.”
Minority Leader Abba Moro described the bill as “a unanimous decision of the Senate,” noting that it was necessary to impose capital punishment “with the hope that kidnappers will face the penalty.”
Following deliberation, the Senate unanimously approved the amendment for further legislative action, referring it to the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters (lead committee), National Security and Intelligence, and Interior, which are expected to report back within two weeks.
House of Representatives Tackles Terrorism Funding, Police Deployment
The House of Representatives, following its comprehensive debate on national security, passed a series of resolutions aimed at financial and operational reforms.
Presiding over the debate on the proposed resolutions, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu urged members to make meaningful contributions, stating that the resolutions reached would end up on the desk of President Bola Tinubu, who is at liberty to implement all or some of them.
One of the key resolutions reached by the lawmakers was that: “Financiers of terrorism, banditry and kidnapping be publicly named, sanctioned and prosecuted.”
The House also proposed that “terrorism-related prosecutions be open, expeditious and transparent,” and called for the establishment of a Special Court for terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping.
