Senate’s criminalisation of ransom payment

THE passage last week by the Nigerian Senate of a bill criminalising the payment of ransom to kidnappers, bandits and terrorists is yet another evidence that authorities across federal, state and local levels have run out of good ideas in their attempt to end the creeping reign of terror in the country. The legislation, an amendment to the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2013, was passed following the review of a report by the Opeyemi Bamidele-led (APC, Ekiti Central) Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters. According to Mr. Bamidele, not only will the bill “enhance the efforts of this government in the fight against terrorism, kidnapping, and other associated vices,” it can also turn around “the economic fortunes of the country.”

We share the alarm of the distinguished senators at the menace of kidnapping for ransom in the country. In recent times, a phenomenon once identified with the northeastern and southeastern parts of the country has become a national problem. As a matter of fact, more Nigerians were kidnapped in the first half of 2021 than in the whole of 2020. Currently, an average of 13 Nigerians are abducted daily in an industry believed by experts to be worth hundreds of millions of Naira.

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Notwithstanding, we find it difficult to share Mr. Opeyemi’s optimism on the prospects of the new bill changing the security landscape in the country for the better. In the first place, the bill does not address the fundamental structural factors driving the kidnapping industry in the country. Second, in criminalising payment of ransom by distressed family members, it addresses the effect rather than the cause, depriving the families of the kidnapped the only means they have of obtaining freedom for their loved ones. Third, the bill conveniently ignores the fact that government itself had paid ransom to kidnappers in the past. Last year, the Katsina State government reportedly paid to secure the freedom of pupils abducted from a school in Kankara, Katsina State.

For these reasons and more, we identify with groups within political and civil society who have moved to denounce the legislation. For instance, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, has characterised the legislation as chasing shadows at the expense of substance.  We couldn’t agree more. If the Senate is genuinely concerned about being seen to do something about the worsening insecurity in the country, it should take up ideas and proposals on security reforms that have been known to work elsewhere.

As it is, the Senate is avoiding leprosy while concentrating on finding a cure for ringworm.