Senate’s objectionable bill on payment of ransoms

LAST week, the Senate took steps to prohibit the payment and receipt of ransom for the release of kidnapped, imprisoned or wrongfully confined persons in the country. A legislative bill to that effect titled Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and sponsored by Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi passed second reading. In his prologue to the debate, Senator Onyewuchi averred that the bill was an amendment of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2013. According to him, when finally passed, it would outlaw payment of ransom to abductors, kidnappers and terrorists in the bid to secure the release of persons wrongfully confined, imprisoned or kidnapped. The bill provides that: “Anyone who transfers funds, makes payment or colludes with an abductor, kidnapper or terrorist to receive any ransom for the release of any person who has been wrongfully confined, imprisoned or kidnapped is guilty of a felony and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment of not less than 15 years.”

We appreciate the Senate’s interest in stemming the spate of kidnappings in the country. On that score, it has the support of Nigerians. We however take serious exception to the attempt to criminalise the efforts made by families of victims to rescue their loved ones. Rather strangely, the bill ignores the grueling pains that families of kidnapped persons go through during the interregnum when their loved ones are kept in unlawful captivity by outlaws. It places victims and their victimizers on the same footing. That is transparently illogical. May we remind the Senate that the primary role of the government, according to Section 14 (2b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is the security and welfare of the people, which the constitution says shall be the primary purpose of government. If it is the responsibility of the government to secure its people, in this instance from the hands of villains who kidnap for ransoms, why shouldn’t that same government, which failed in its role in the first instance, receive legal recompense? Why punish the victims of governmental inertia for trying to save themselves or loved ones?

It is the duty of the government to ensure that kidnapping does not occur at all. If any individual or organisation deserves blame or sanction for kidnapping, it should be the government and aberrant citizens who engage in kidnapping. It certainly should not be the victims or their families who are desperately trying to ward off possible death. For anyone to make moves to pay ransom for the release of their loved ones, the government must have shirked its responsibilities. That being the case, criminalising the act of rescuing oneself or loved ones from unlawful custody amounts to providing the government with an unearned opportunity for muscle flexing.

Truth be told, the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Bill, 2021 is inexorably obnoxious, vexatious and provocative. It is tantamount to punishing Nigerians for the failure of their government. Pray, have the members of the Senate and the sponsor of the bill ever seen anyone gladly paying ransom? Payment of ransom is a natural survival mechanism for people faced with impossible choices: look for money by all means, or have oneself or loved ones cut down in cold blood. Often, kidnappers make it abundantly clear to family members of their victims that if they do not pay up, and in good time, they (victims) would be killed in a most grueling manner. Ransom payment is thus the only assurance by the family, which is not even guaranteed, that they will set eyes on their loved ones again.

Rather than exerting energy on criminalising victims and their families, the legislators should promulgate laws that will make the kind of lethargy currently exhibited by government officials in handling kidnapped victims punishable by jail time. Resources and legislative energy should be channeled into combating the onslaughts of criminals on innocent citizens. Terrorists and bandits should be apprehended and given their just deserts. The government should combat kidnapping and allied crimes with technology, giving felons no hiding space. The ungoverned spaces that litter the country should be brought under state control. Passing the present bill into law amounts to inflicting double jeopardy on helpless Nigerians.

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