In its amendment of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2013 last Wednesday, the Senate criminalised the payment of ransom to abductors and imposed a jail term of 15 years for paying kidnappers and terrorists for the release of any person wrongfully confined, imprisoned or kidnapped. The amendment also prescribes death penalty for the crime of abduction in cases where victims die and life imprisonment in other cases.
The bill was passed following the consideration of a report by the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, under the chairmanship of Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.
In his justification of the amendment, Bamidele said making ransom payment punishable with a jail term would discourage the rising spate of kidnapping and abduction for ransom in Nigeria, which is fast spreading across the country.
He added that if passed, the bill would save Nigeria from being included among countries in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List with its attendant negative consequences, which might ultimately result in international sanctions that would impair the image of the country.
It is obvious that the Senate, in passing this bill, was more concerned about the image of the country than the safety of the people. The Senate does not mind the country looking good to outsiders though the citizens are reeling in pains, aches and agony. While there is no doubt about the negative implication of having Nigeria on the FATF Grey List, there is also no doubting the fact that nobody gleefully pays ransom for the release of an abducted relation. People opt to pay when all hope about the government or its agencies proffering a solution to the problem dims.
The least worry of the relations of an abducted person is the image of the country, their concern is how to rescue the victim alive. If they were sure that the government and its agencies would be able to save the victims unhurt, they would not be eager to pay kidnappers. But they are forced to cough out the money levied by the kidnappers because they know it is a choice between keeping their money and losing probably a beloved parent, a cherished offspring or a treasured sibling.
Let’s ask ourselves some questions.
What option is left to relations of an abduction victim when the President and Commander In Chief of the armed forces gave an order that the military and paramilitary agencies should ensure the release of all kidnap victims and nothing has happened after more than a whole week? Will the relations not think it is better to lose their money to the kidnappers than risk the loss of their relations?
What is the alternative to playing along with kidnappers and paying them when respected emirs and district heads are in cahoots with bandits as was the case in Zamfara State where some emirs and district heads were sacked for conniving with bandits? If those highly placed leaders could compromise their people’s safety, wouldn’t relations of kidnap victims rush to pay to save their kith and kin?
When military personnel are bandying with bandits, what is the guarantee that those at the mercy of kidnappers stand any chance of being saved by the system? So, what are the relations of the victims expected to do? Fold their arms and wait for the bad news of the death of their loved ones? Or keep on praying that the kidnappers would have a change of heart and release their victims? Wouldn’t they rather regard the offer of the abductors as the cross they have to bear and dance to the tune of the kidnappers?
What should relations of kidnap victims do when Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, who visits the terrorists and often speaks for them, advised the Central Bank of Nigeria last year to pay N100million ransom for the kidnapped students of Greenfield University and the abducted students were not released until ransom was paid, yet Sheikh Gumi was not quizzed by security agencies?
The senators might have meant well by coming up with this proposed legislation but they are so distant from the reality in the land that their good intention will only result in more deaths of victims of kidnap.
Those who pay ransom don’t do so gleefully. They pay out of pain. Some have liquidated their life investment to procure freedom for their relations. Some had to sell their property to ensure the release of their loved ones held hostage. A Katsina State resident, Saidu Faskari, narrated the agonizing story of how he had to remove the roofing sheets of his house, sell same just to raise N100,000 demanded by his son’s kidnappers to secure his rescue. Now, if a person has to endure all of that hardship to buy a relation’s freedom and at the end of the day he is still jailed, can that be regarded as justice?
What the Senate is proposing is nothing but criminalising citizens’ right to safety, criminalising the right to life and criminalising the right to protect relations. As a matter of fact, it is tantamount to criminalising the vulnerable since kidnappers don’t go after members of the executive and the legislature because they are protected by the state. The amendment is an injustice against the undefended people of Nigeria, which itself is a crime. The only thing that can give the legislation a cloak of legality is if the senators would refuse to pay for the release of any of their children or spouses should they be abducted. But it is a known fact that they will rush to pay to free their relations.
What would have been more appropriate for the Senate to do is to have come up with a legislation that would compel the military and the paramilitary agencies to track down every kidnapper. If those who perpetuate these evil acts know that the nation’s might would be unleashed on them, they would think twice before embarking on kidnapping Nigerians. But since it is so glaring that those who are supposed to deter the kidnappers are not ready to do so, the abductors have been emboldened and they increase their hold on the land day after day. So, the average Nigerian is at the mercy of kidnappers.
and then