The Senate at its plenary session on Thursday, 28 September 2017 passed a Bill to provide for the punishment of the offences of abduction, wrongful restraint, wrongful confinement for ransom and other related offences.
Presenting the report on the Bill, the Vice Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Sen. Chukwuka Utazi (PDP: Enugu) spoke on its methodology stating that the Committee had conducted a public hearing to avail the public with an opportunity to make contributions on the merits of the Bill in addition to other justifications for its passage. He also outlined some of the Bill’s objectives stating that it would prescribe stiff punishment for the offence of abduction, wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement for ransom and prescribed penalties for conspiracy, death and fatal injuries that may arise from the offence. He highlighted that the Bill’s contents were targeted at combatting and preventing any form of kidnapping and empowered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to ensure adequate policing of such crimes.
In addition, he stated that the Committee had taken into consideration, the contributions of Senators during the deliberations on the Bill and submissions from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) such as the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), and other relevant stakeholders where it observed that:
- All stakeholders who had made submissions and presentations at the Committee’s public hearing had supported the passage of the Bill as a means of curbing the incessant rise of cases of kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria;
- The Bill, if enacted will re-enforce some provisions of extant laws on the subject matter, which are not comprehensive enough to address the cases of kidnapping;
- The Bill, if enacted should not be restricted only to the Federal Capital Territory but across all States of the Federation.
Lastly, he noted that the Committee had amended the Long Title and 5 Clauses in the Bill before recommending the Report for Senate’s approval.
Click here to view the amendments and full report of the Committee
