Key justice and human rights stakeholders on Thursday opposed a Senate proposal seeking to impose the death penalty for kidnapping under a proposed amendment to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, warning that capital punishment would neither deter crime nor enhance national security.
The opposition emerged during a one-day public hearing organised by the Senate Joint Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters; National Security and Intelligence; and Interior.
The Bill aims to classify kidnapping, hostage-taking, and related offences as acts of terrorism, prescribing the death penalty without the option of a fine or alternative sentence.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), alongside the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Nigerian Law Reform Commission, Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), and Department of State Services (DSS), raised legal, constitutional, and policy concerns over the proposal.
Fagbemi urged lawmakers to remove the death penalty clause, noting that while the executive shares the legislature’s determination to combat terrorism and violent crime, mandatory capital punishment could prove counterproductive.
“While emotionally satisfying, the inclusion of the death penalty risks facilitating the ‘martyrdom’ trap,” Fagbemi said. “In ideological conflicts, state-sanctioned execution may validate extremist causes, fuel recruitment, and provoke retaliatory violence.”
He also warned that capital punishment could weaken international cooperation, as many countries may refuse to extradite suspects facing execution, potentially creating safe havens abroad for terror masterminds.
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Fagbemi highlighted Nigeria’s long-standing reluctance to carry out executions, noting that the resulting de facto moratorium has contributed to overcrowded prisons and increased the risk of radicalisation within correctional facilities.
“Our focus should be on certainty of apprehension and conviction rather than the ultimate severity of punishment,” he said, recommending life imprisonment without parole as a practical alternative.
The NHRC called for all legislation to undergo mandatory human rights impact assessments before passage. The commission described the Bill as well-intentioned but flagged “serious legal, constitutional, and policy problems,” stressing that it must align with international human rights norms and Nigeria’s constitutional safeguards.
“Expanding capital punishment in a system with investigative gaps heightens the risk of irreversible miscarriages of justice,” the commission added.
The NBA urged the Senate to adopt a graduated and discretionary sentencing framework. It recommended limiting the classification of kidnapping as terrorism to cases involving organised criminal networks or intent to intimidate the public or coerce government authorities.
The association also advised replacing the mandatory death penalty with discretionary sentences, including life imprisonment, and clearly defining intent, ancillary liability, and defences such as duress, while harmonising the Bill with existing state kidnapping laws.
Senator Ekong Sampson supported a graduated approach to offences and penalties, stressing the need to account for degrees of harm, offenders’ roles, and the outcomes of crimes.
Former UN Human Rights Envoy and Professor of Human Rights Law at Bournemouth University, Prof. Uchenna Emelonye, welcomed the convergence of views among Nigeria’s top legal institutions against capital punishment for kidnapping.
“The submissions today reaffirm what global evidence shows — expanding the death penalty will not stop kidnapping,” Emelonye said. “Nigeria needs institutional reforms, intelligence-led policing, effective prosecutions, border security, arms control, and victim-centred justice.”
He warned that widening capital punishment within a fragile criminal justice system risks wrongful convictions without measurable security gains and urged the Senate to focus on strengthening policing, intelligence coordination, and prosecution of kidnapping cases.
The committees said the submissions would inform their report as the Senate considers the proposed amendment.
