By Fatima Mukhtar
Nigeria’s Senate has thrown its weight behind a new legislation seeking to impose the death penalty on kidnappers, informants, and the sponsors behind abductions across the country — a move lawmakers say is aimed at curbing the worsening wave of insecurity.
The bill, which scaled second reading on Tuesday, proposes an amendment to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, classifying kidnapping and hostage-taking as acts of terrorism. Under the proposed law, anyone found guilty of such offences would face capital punishment, with no option of fines.
Senators who spoke during the debate described kidnapping as a “commercialised and militarised criminal enterprise” responsible for thousands of deaths, mass abductions, and widespread trauma in rural and urban communities.
They noted that conventional penalties under the current Criminal Code had failed to deter armed groups orchestrating high-profile attacks — including school abductions, assaults on worship centres and rampant kidnappings along major highways.
The bill also targets informants who collaborate with criminal networks by providing intelligence on potential victims, as well as financiers believed to be powering kidnapping syndicates across the country.
Lawmakers further argued that the proposed death-penalty provision would strengthen the government’s counter-terrorism framework while signaling zero tolerance for kidnapping-related crimes.
However, the bill will undergo further legislative scrutiny before it can become law. Civil-society groups and legal practitioners are also expected to weigh in, especially on human-rights concerns surrounding capital punishment.
Security analysts say the move shows the Senate’s growing frustration with the rising attack rates and may form part of a broader national response to insecurity.
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