On the death penalty for kidnapping

RECENTLY, the Edo State governor, Mr Monday Okpebholo, declared that kidnappers caught in the state would face the death penalty, specifically by hanging. Speaking during an interactive session with leaders and members of the Arewa community at the Uromi Town Hall, the governor expressed readiness to sign the death warrants of convicts. Governor Okpebholo, who said his administration would no longer tolerate insecurity, killing, and kidnapping in the state, said: “We will bring kidnappers to the public and execute them to show our seriousness, in accordance with the laws already passed by the Edo House of Assembly. I will not be afraid to sign it. I take the issue of insecurity seriously and will not bend the rules but apply them strictly. The new law in the State permits us to demolish kidnappers’ properties and confiscate their lands. We will build vigilante team offices on those lands.” The governor called on the people to collaborate with his administration to secure the state, saying that security was the business of everyone, not for security agencies alone. 

 In February this year, the Edo State House of Assembly had passed the State Kidnapping Prohibition Law 2025 and approved death sentence for offenders. During the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, the assembly amended the existing law, namely the Kidnapping Prohibition Amendment Law (and Related Matters 2013), which had provided for life imprisonment and confiscation of property allegedly used for kidnapping,  providing for the death sentence and the confiscation of property used during the act of kidnapping. The state is, of course, not alone in the death penalty verdict for kidnapping. For instance,  in 2017, the Lagos House of Assembly had passed a bill prescribing the death sentence for kidnappers whose victims die in their custody, and life imprisonment for those whose victims do not die in their custody. The Imo State House of Assembly also passed a bill providing for the mandatory death penalty for anyone convicted of kidnapping. This includes individuals whose premises are used by kidnappers to hold someone hostage. States like Ogun, Oyo, Ebonyi, Rivers, Bauchi, Anambra, Ondo, Enugu, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and Kogi also have similar legislation. 

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Worried by the resurgence of criminal activities in the state, the Ogun State government, in January this year, indicated that it was considering signing the death warrants of condemned criminals sentenced by competent courts to serve as a deterrent to those who might want to commit heinous crimes in the state. The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Oluwasina Ogungbade (SAN), who made this known  after inspecting inmates and facilities at the Correctional Centre, Ibara, Abeokuta, expressed concern over the increase in criminal activities like ritual killings, kidnapping, cultism, and other heinous crimes in recent times in the state. Ogungbade said:  “I can tell you that we are looking seriously at a means of sending a message that Ogun State is not a place where you can come and commit such serious crimes and get away with it. The law as of today, for example, states that a murder case attracts the death penalty, and some other offences. But if you look at it nationally, for a long time, there has been reluctance on the part of governments across the states, particularly since the advent of democratic rule, to sign death warrants. But I assure you that at this time, we are looking very seriously at following the law to its letter. It is part of the duty of the governor to sign death warrants, and I am certain that when he took that oath of office, he took it knowing full well the responsibilities that come with it. He is a governor who upholds the rule of law, so I can assure you that in deserving cases, he will not shy away from that constitutional duty.” Ogungbade  added that the administration had done a lot in terms of granting amnesty to those condemned to death by commuting their death sentences into life imprisonment, reducing life imprisonment to a fixed term of imprisonment, as well as allowing punishment to serve as a deterrent.

Following the declaration by the Attorney General,  various international organisations, including Avocats Sans Frontières France, Amnesty International Nigeria and Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (ECPM), called on the Ogun State government  to abandon the plan. They said: “We firmly reiterate our commitment to the universal abolition of the death penalty. The application of the death penalty is an irreversible measure. It contradicts the fundamental right to life, as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By choosing this path, Ogun State would risk compromising the principles of human dignity and hindering the global progress made in the abolition of capital punishment.”

To be sure, the death sentence and its execution, whether it is for kidnapping or other serious offences, are not light issues, and it is instructive that most state governors have, over the years, been reluctant to sign the death warrants of convicts. However, given the horrors that kidnappers typically orchestrate and the untold agony they subject their victims to, there is no reason why they should not be given a taste of their own medicine. If the death sentence is going to curb kidnapping, then so be it. We find it insulting to the memory of victims that the global rights organisations referenced are concerned about the human dignity of kidnappers while being silent on that of their victims. If a person knows how to inflict pain on others by kidnapping and killing them or subjecting them to torture, then such a person should also be able to ensure whatever punishment the state in its wisdom prescribes for the crime.

Governments at all levels have our endorsement in going after criminals and hunting them down. Providing the death penalty for kidnapping is not inappropriate. We, however, add the caveat that in tackling kidnapping and other crimes, a multi-faceted approach is called for. The society must stop the worship of criminals and their flashy lifestyle. A society where everyone wants to live big without working for it and hardly anyone asks questions regarding how people become suddenly wealthy cannot but witness the festering of kidnapping and allied criminal activities. The government should perform its obligatory duties to the citizenry by making life conducive for them. It should also promote the culture of hard work and uprightness while steering the youth, in particular, towards productive activities. And then it should uphold the law very strictly.