By Idowu Abdullahi,
The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has signed into law the Nasarawa State kidnapping Act Prohibition Law 2020, as well as the Child-Protection Executive Order Bill, both of which prescribe death penalty for anyone engaging kidnapping in the state.
According to him, strict laws are needed to deter suspected kidnappers and their cohorts from perpetuating the evil act, adding that cases of kidnappings had become a threat to peaceful existence of the state and its people.
Sule listed various penalties ranging from death to imprisonment for criminals found guilty of kidnapping, conspiracy to kidnap, attempt to kidnap, fake kidnap, false representation to release a kidnapped victim, and assisting in escape of kidnappers, saying that such punishments would serve as deterent for anyone intending to commit such crimes.
The governor, while signing the bill on Wednesday, in the state, explained that the bill had become necessary as response to rising incidents of kidnapping and other crimes against children, and expressed hope that the bill signing would put an end to all such acts of criminality.
In addition to the bill being signed into law, Sule issued an executive order prescribing a 10-year jail term for parents of street beggars, stating that the order would take effect as soon as his administration carried out planned evacuation of street beggars through out the state and enroll them in Tsungai educational system.
The state governor said that the bills and executive order were based on the drive of his government to ensure that every child in Nassarawa state was assured of safety and had access to education.
He pledged to put in place adequate measures to care for indigent children, child beggars and children of less priviledged parents in the state, adding that his government was prepared to implement and enforce all laws and orders that had just been accented.
“I need to state that the Nasarawa State Kidnapping Act Prohibition Law was extensively deliberated and passed by the State House of Assembly,”
“We all agreed that children are the most vulnerable in our society and so they need to be protected, as a result, this law spelt out various offences relating to kidnapping and prescribed stringent punishment for perpetrators, such as life imprisonment and death penalty,”
“Also, Nassarawa State will no longer tolerate the endangering of our future, our children on roads as beggers. These children will be put in scholl and cared for by the government”.
The governor called for cooperation of the people of the state and said that implementation of the laws and executive order were to the best interests of Nassarawa citizens, and as such their full support was needed.
In his response, the State’s Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General, Abdulkarim Kana, expressed gratitude to the governor for signing the law and inauguration of committees, saying the action would go long way toward tackling criminality in the state.
