The National Assembly, both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Wednesday demanded that the Federal Government publicly name and prosecute all identified terrorism financiers.
The Senate debated on the amendment of the Terrorism Act to designate kidnapping and hostage-taking as acts of terrorism and prescribe the death penalty for kidnappers, their informants, and their logistics providers.
The legislative debate comes shortly after a series of abductions, including the kidnapping of schoolgirls in Kebbi State, who were later released, and the abduction involving over 200 schoolchildren in Niger State, who are still held captive.
Separately, Defence Minister General Christopher Musa (retd.) vowed during his screening to launch a probe into the alleged withdrawal of troops from the Kebbi school shortly before the abduction of the schoolgirls.
Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Leader, leading the debate on the death penalty bill, stressed that;
Kidnapping has evolved into coordinated, commercialised and militarised acts of violence perpetrated by organised criminal groups…This is not a mere crime. It is terrorism in its purest form
The House of Representatives passed several other resolutions alongside the call for prosecuting financiers, which includes establishing a Special Court for terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping cases, expediting the process to establish State Police through Constitutional amendments, reviewing the military’s super-camp strategy and considering a return to forward operating bases and community-level deployment.
The Act officially establishes the NCTC within the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) as the central body for coordinating and harmonizing all counter-terrorism and terrorism financing operations.
It contains provisions that allow security agencies to detain a suspect for terrorism-related offense for a period of up to 60 days, with a court order, pending the conclusion of the investigation and prosecution.
The Senate’s proposed amendment is aimed towards strengthening the penalties under the existing Section 24 related to kidnapping, to ensure that the death penalty is applied not just when death results, but for all kidnapping actors, including informants and logistics providers.
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