Osun legislature proposes death penalty for kidnappers

Osun State legislature has proposed death penalty for kidnappers in Osun Kidnapping and Related Crimes Prohibition Bill, saying the bill would effectively tackle the incidence of abduction by hoodlums.

Making this disclosure during a public hearing on the bill on Tuesday, the Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Hon Timothy Owoeye said the boyfriend killer of an undergraduate female student of Lagos State University, Adeeko Owolabi, who was allegedly involved in the murder of Favour Daley Oladele in Ikoyi, Osun State last year will get death penalty if convicted.

He lamented over the increase in cases of kidnapping stating that “Osun has witnessed about 6 cases in 2020 alone but we are eager to nip it in the bud.”

Owoeye contended that the existing penalty for capital offence such as kidnapping was too mild “and that is why we deem it fit to promulgate another law that whoever is caught in kidnapping face death penalty.”

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“We as parents must continue to educate our young ones that there is no shortcut to success. The better way is preparation, hard-work, and perseverance”, he asserted.

In his remark, the Osun State Coordinator of Hunter Group of Nigeria, HGN, Mr. Hammed Nureni tasked the lawmakers to urgently pass the bill into law, saying kidnappers deserve no mercy because they are ruthless and merciless to their victims.

Speaking in the same vein, the Commandant of Vigilante Group of Nigeria, VGN, in Osun state, Mr. Bello Aderemi supported the proposed bill, recalling that kidnappers have waisted many lives of their victims.

He implored members of the public to always divulge information for security operatives so as to aid them in combating crimes, just as he assured that his members would continue to support the government.