The Senate is seeking stricter punishments for mob action, kidnapping and related offences.
Two separate bills, aimed at checking the crimes, passed the second reading on Wednesday.
One of the bills, sponsored by Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West Senatorial District), seeks to establish an ‘Act for the Prohibition and Protection of Persons from Lynching, Mob Action and Extrajudicial Executions and Other Related Offences 2016’.
The other bill, sponsored by Senator Isa Missau (Bauchi Central), is seeking the establishment for an ‘Act to Provide for the Punishment of the Offences of Abduction, Wrongful Restraints and Wrongful Conferment for Ransom and Other Related Matters, and for Matters Incidental Thereto, 2016’.
Missau, while explaining the bill, said it sought to prescribe stiffer punishment for abduction, wrongful restraint and confinement for ransom.
He said, “The bill is a 15-clause legislative proposal. It offers a robust definition of the offence of kidnapping. It also provides a stiffer punishment for ancillary crimes flowing from the commission of the crime of abduction, like death or grievous bodily harm.”