Proposed Death Penalty for Kidnappers

The House of Representatives has signalled its intention to introduce a bill to curb the menace of kidnapping and hostage taking in the country. The lawmakers expressed their support for capital punishment for anyone found guilty of the offences. They weighed in on the disturbing trend during a public hearing organized by the joint House Committee on the Judiciary, Justice, Human Rights and Police Affairs which held recently at the National Assembly.

Committee chairman Bala Na'Allah observed that unless stiffer penalties were meted out to perpetrators, prospective investors including expatriates would continue to be discouraged from investing in the country. Already, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Nigeria Institute of Legal Arbitration and the Nigerian Legal Aid Council as well as the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) have all expressed support the introduction of the death penalty for these crimes. The committee is now expected to table its report for consideration and final passage as the House reconvenes from its recess. The severity of the problem was brought home two days ago when fifteen nursery and primary school children were abducted in Aba, Abia State.

The incidents of kidnapping and hostage taking started among militants in the Niger Delta as a form protest against unequal distribution of wealth. Today they have evolved into serious crimes and threaten social cohesion. Recently a medical doctor was murdered by his abductors even after his family had paid N30 million ransom money to his kidnappers. Currently, five members of the National Youth Service Corps, (NYSC) serving in Rivers State are in the hands of their captors who have demanded N10 million for their release.

One of the cardinal purposes of law is to prevent the commission of crimes, while another is to stipulate stiff penalties to act as deterrence. The crime of abduction and kidnapping negatively portrays Nigeria as anarchic and lawless, not worth taking the risk to do legitimate business in. It is understandable therefore the urgent need to redeem the situation.

A law such as has been proposed would have received wholesome accolade except that the social indices to back it hardly warrant it. Unemployment is highest among the youths suspected of being the kidnap and hostage kingpins. Our preventive, investigative and trial systems are highly defective leading to constant cases of maladministration of justice and summary or extra-judicial executions.

The death penalty is an irreversible punishment, which is usually applied in cases of heinous crimes; it should be sparingly invoked. In view of the state of the Nigerian it is necessary to sound a note of caution given that even in more mature societies there are documented instances of miscarriages of justice after a thorough judicial process. Although such miscarriage of justice leads to the payment of amends, no monetary restitution can compensate for a life taken even in the course of carrying out a judicial sentence.

A proper alignment of social indices should precede any addition to the list of crimes meriting the application of the death penalty. This is imperative especially in the light of emerging facts indicating that even in states with such penalties it has hardly serve as deterrence. A case in point is that of armed robbery which attracts a similar penalty. The crime has failed to abate and there have been confessions in which criminals wilfully killed others fully conscious of the penalty for their crimes. The first step in addressing the problem is to take measures to redress the imbalance created by unemployment. This should be followed with equipping the security forces with the tools necessary to prevent the commission of crimes and the possible miscarriage of justice. These would go a long way in curbing not just kidnapping and hostage taking but many other crimes in our society.

Daily Trust

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