Key justice and human rights stakeholders yesterday opposed a Senate proposal seeking to prescribe the death penalty for kidnapping under an amendment to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
They warned that capital punishment would neither deter crime nor strengthen national security.
The opposition was voiced at a one-day public hearing organised by the Senate Joint Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, National Security and Intelligence, and Interior.
It was on a Bill seeking to designate kidnapping, hostage-taking and related offences as acts of terrorism and to impose the death penalty without the option of a fine or alternative sentence.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Nigerian Law Reform Commission, the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), the Department of State Services (DSS) and other stakeholders raised legal, constitutional and policy concerns over the proposal.
Fagbemi urged lawmakers to drop the death penalty clause, arguing that while the government shared the legislature’s resolve to curb terrorism and violent crime, the proposed punishment could be counterproductive.
He said: “While emotionally satisfying, the inclusion of the death penalty risks facilitating the ‘martyrdom’ trap.
“In ideological conflicts, state-sanctioned execution may validate extremist causes, fuel recruitment and provoke retaliatory violence.”
He also warned that capital punishment could undermine international cooperation, noting that many countries would refuse to extradite suspects who face execution.
According to him, Nigeria could inadvertently create safe havens abroad for terror masterminds.
Fagbemi further cited Nigeria’s long-standing reluctance to carry out executions, which has created a de facto moratorium, overcrowded correctional facilities and potential radicalisation hubs in prisons.
“Our focus should be on the certainty of apprehension and conviction rather than the ultimate severity of punishment,” he said, recommending life imprisonment without parole as an alternative.
The NHRC proposed that all legislation undergo a mandatory human rights impact assessment before passage.
It maintained that the Bill, though well-intentioned, had “serious legal, constitutional and policy problems” and must align with international human rights norms and Nigeria’s constitutional safeguards.
“Any proposed legislation must improve the enjoyment of human rights and comply with best practices,” the Commission said, adding that expanding capital punishment in a system with investigative gaps heightens the risk of irreversible miscarriages of justice.
The NBA advised the Senate to adopt a graduated and discretionary sentencing framework.
It recommended limiting the classification of kidnapping as terrorism to cases involving organised criminal or terrorist networks or intent to intimidate the public or coerce the government.
The association urged lawmakers to replace the mandatory death penalty with discretionary sentencing, including life imprisonment or death only in aggravated cases, and to clearly define intent, ancillary liability and defences such as duress, while harmonising the Bill with existing state kidnapping laws.
Senator Ekong Sampson, during deliberations, supported a graduated approach to offences and penalties, stressing the need to reflect degrees of harm, roles of offenders and outcomes of offences.
Former United Nations Human Rights Envoy and Professor of Human Rights Law at Bournemouth University, Prof. Uchenna Emelonye, welcomed what he described as a rare convergence of views among Nigeria’s top legal institutions against capital punishment for kidnapping.
He said: “The submissions today reaffirm what empirical evidence and global experience show – expanding the death penalty will not stop kidnapping.
“Nigeria needs institutional reforms, intelligence-led policing, effective prosecutions, border security, arms control and victim-centred justice.”
He warned that widening the scope of capital punishment within a fragile criminal justice system risks wrongful convictions without delivering measurable security gains, and urged the Senate to redirect legislative energy towards strengthening policing, intelligence coordination and prosecution of kidnapping cases.
The committees said submissions would inform their report as the Senate considers the proposed amendment.