The Senate on Tuesday passed the Criminal Code Amendment Act Bill, which increased the jail term prescribed for kidnappers from 10 years to life imprisonment.
This was sequel to the adoption of a report of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters on a Bill for an Act to amend the criminal code Act Cap.C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 to among others increase punishment for the offence of kidnapping presented by the committee Chairman, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.
The bill provided for a life sentence for persons found guilty of kidnapping as against the provisions of Section 363 of the Act, which proffer the punishment of imprisonment for a term of 10 years, where the offence of kidnapping is established.
The bill noted that the frequency of kidnapping across the federation and the resultant trauma, not to mention the number of lives lost to the crime, makes it imperative to review the laws with a view to ensuring appropriate punishment for perpetrators as well as serve as deterrence to would be perpetrators.
