Kidnappers Collecting Ransom With Their Bank Accounts In Abuja niyitabiti.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from niyitabiti.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
kidnapping PHOTO: shutterstock
The proposal by the Senate to enact a law banning payment of ransom to kidnappers and making it a criminal offence for those connected with such payments is obviously in tandem with international best practice against kidnapping. Kidnapping globally ranks as one of the meanest offences against which organised and serious countries take stern exception. But in climes where ransom payment for terrorist acts have been banned, the structure to prevent, mitigate and rescue victims have been put in place. Unfortunately, this is not so in Nigeria. From all indications, therefore, the Senate proposal is like putting the cart before the horse. The lawmakers ought to be very concerned about the failure of official security architecture that has made kidnapping so easy for the criminals; and that lacks an effective mechanism for rescuing kidnap victims. It is from this prism that attempt by the Senate in Nigeria to criminalise ransom payment can be best viewed.
A bill seeking to prohibit the payment and receipt of ransom for the release of any person kidnapped, imprisoned or wrongfully confined recently scaled second reading at the Senate. According to the bill, the payer and receiver of ransom each risks 15 years imprisonment. The Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Bill 2021 is sponsored by Senator Ezenwa […]
If You pay a Kidnappers Ransom you ll go to jail! thenigerianvoice.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thenigerianvoice.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The bill is aimed at stemming the criminal act of kidnapping for ransom, argues Dennis Mackenzie
Since last week when the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Bill, 2021 scaled through second reading in the Senate, a number of Nigerians have been unsettled by aspects of the proposed law. The sponsor of the bill, Senator Ezenwa Francis Onyewuchi (PDP Imo State) and the entire Senate have come under some scathing criticisms on account of the bill.
The bill, for the avoidance of doubt, was first introduced on the floor of the Senate on 10th March, 2021. It seeks to amend the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2013 to outlaw the payment of ransom to abductors, kidnappers and terrorists for the release of any person who has been wrongly confined, imprisoned or kidnapped, and other related matters. Specifically, the bill seeks to substitute section 14 of the principal Act to read thus: “Anyone who transfers funds, makes payment or colludes with an abductor, kidnapper or terrorist to receive any ran