Edo
State governor, Adams Oshiomhole has signed into the law the
“Kidnapping Prohibition Law 2009” as recently amended by the state House
of Assembly.
The law prescribes death penalty for anyone who is involved in any form of kidnapping in the state.
Oshiomhole while appending his signature
to the bill in Benin, on Friday, said, “As reluctant as one would want
to be in matters of life and death, I am convinced that the overriding
public interest now dictates that we invoke the maximum penalty
available in our law to all those involved in the act of kidnapping.
Anyone sentenced and convicted; I will sign the death warrant.
“But criminals have a choice to abstain
from criminality, abstain from kidnapping, abstain from killing so that
they, in turn, can live and enjoy the good things of life.”
The governor said that those who linked kidnapping to employment were simplifying a complex issue.
He assured Edo people that everything
was being done to ensure that security agencies put in place a
comprehensive network that would ensure effective policing of the
various security flash points across the state.
He said, “I am convinced that all of us
in the three arms of government do have a responsibility to make laws
and enforce those laws in a way that will send clear signals to those
involved in various acts of criminality; be they kidnappers, murderers,
rapists and whoever they are that the security agencies are now much
more determined than ever before to ensure that this state becomes too
hot for criminals to operate.
“I am aware from reports of those who
have been arrested over the period that the overwhelming majority of
these criminals are migrant criminals who come from neighboring states
and sometimes from far away states to perpetrate various crimes in Edo
State and escaped back to their states across the country.
“I want to assure the good people of Edo
state that the government is concerned with the state of kidnapping. We
share the pains, agony and trauma which the victims of kidnap and other
violent crimes are subjected to or experienced.”
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