The Eselu of Iselu, Ogun State, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi has spoken out against the proposed bill that is intending to criminalize the payment of ransom to kidnappers.
According to the Oba, the federal government should seek for better ways to improve the security architecture to safeguard citizens and not seek to criminalize a bill to stop the payment of ransoms.
The Oba said“With all sense of honesty, I totally condemn the menace of kidnapping that has now ravaged our dear country, Nigeria. As a patriotic citizen, I will always support any steps that governments at all levels take with the view to ridding our country off all manners of criminalities, including the crime of kidnapping that is sadly gaining more currency/popularity in our country these days.
“However, I feel the bill that is proposing a 15-year jail term for payers of ransom to kidnappers is a misplaced priority, unpopular and needless at this precious time because governments at all levels have failed in their responsibility to protect the lives and property of Nigerian citizens due mainly to the poor security architecture in the entire country,”
“If families of kidnapped persons cannot pay ransom due to the proposed bill and government too does not have an effective security architecture to rescue the victims, it then means that the victims of kidnapping will be in the kidnappers’ dens till eternity. Lives of some of them may even be in danger in the hands of their abductors. Will that not amount to a double jeopardy for the victims’ families?”
“To me, the first thing we should do is to develop a security strategy that will make the Nigeria Police Force and other Security Forces possess the competence and capacity to aggressively confront the crime of kidnapping in Nigeria.
“If we want the bill to be popular, the Federal Government should first rescue Leah Sharibu and other hundreds of innocent Nigerians who are still being held in kidnappers’ dens in all the nooks and crannies of our country, Nigeria,”
Source: www.Ghgossip.com