The Senate of Nigeria Senate of Nigeria on Tuesday took a decisive stance against the country’s worsening insecurity, designating kidnapping and banditry as acts of terrorism and approving the death penalty as the maximum punishment for all kidnapping-related offences.
The resolutions were reached during a heated plenary session presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio Godswill Akpabio, following a motion of urgent national importance raised by Senator Ashiru Oyelola Yisa Ashiru Oyelola Yisa (Kwara South) and amended by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele Opeyemi Bamidele.
In one of its strongest security resolutions in recent years, the Senate ruled that all laws dealing with kidnapping should now be treated under terrorism statutes, carrying a mandatory death sentence, with no option of fine or judicial reduction. To give effect to this, Bamidele was instructed to introduce an amendment bill “in the shortest possible time.”
Lawmakers also approved the establishment of a new Joint Task Force (JTF) Joint Task Force (JTF) to secure the vulnerable Kwara–Kogi corridor, with new Forward Operating Bases slated for Eruku, Babanla, Oke-Ero, Isanlu and Wasagu in Kebbi State.
The chamber further urged the Federal Government of Nigeria Federal Government of Nigeria to strengthen local vigilante groups and review the country’s firearms laws, noting that over 175 nations allow responsible citizens to legally own weapons for self-defence.
A key part of the resolutions was a directive for an in-depth investigation into the withdrawal of troops from a school in Kebbi State just hours before it was attacked by bandits. Security committees were also mandated to probe the circumstances surrounding a circular regarding the killing of Brigadier-General M. Uba M. Uba in Maiduguri and report back within two weeks.
The Senate’s actions reflect growing national alarm over escalating kidnappings, school invasions and deadly raids across several states.
SaharaReporters SaharaReporters earlier detailed how panic gripped Eruku in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State when terrorists stormed the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Christ Apostolic Church, killing three worshippers and abducting several others, including the pastor, during a church meeting.
The attack came amid a series of mass abductions reported in Kebbi Kebbi and Niger Niger states earlier this month, underscoring the nationwide urgency that lawmakers say demands immediate and uncompromising action.