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The Senate has proposed a bill that seeks to prohibit the payment and receipt of ransom for the release of any person kidnapped, imprisoned, or wrongfully confined.
The Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which scaled second reading during plenary on Wednesday is sponsored by Senator Ezenwa Francis Onyewuchi.
Leading debate on the bill, the lawmaker said the piece of legislation seeks to amend the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2013 to outlaw the payment of ransom to abductors, kidnappers and terrorists for the release of any person who has been wrongfully confined, imprisoned or kidnapped.
Onyewuchi said the bill essentially seeks to substitute for section 14 of the Principal Act a new section to read: “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.”
The lawmaker raised an alarm that Kidnapping has become a fast and lucrative business, adding that, “it has now remained the most virulent form of banditry in Nigeria and the most pervasive and intractable violent crime in the country.”
