The issue of capital punishment in Nigeria has generated lots of controversies. This method of punishment which includes hanging, shooting and stoning is imposed on those found guilty of committing crimes ranging from murder, terrorism-related offenses, rape, robbery, kidnapping, treason, and mutiny. Just recently the Senate resolved to add to the list by enacting a bill that would make provisions for death penalty as the punishment for anyone caught in the act of kidnapping. The resolution followed the adoption of a report by the Joint Committee on Police Affairs and National Security and Intelligence presented by its Chairman, Senator Abu Ibrahim. The Senate had on November 19, 2015, asked the committee to engage the Inspector General of Police (IG), Solomon Arase, and Director-General of Department of State Services (DSS), Mamman Daura, on recurrent cases of kidnapping and hostage taking, and recommend its findings to the chamber. In his contribution, Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, noted that kidnapping became popular after former Anambra State Governor and incumbent Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, was kidnapped in 2002. Speaking on the bill, Yusuf Ali SAN said ‘’ the solution to kidnapping is more than just the law. There are socio- economic issues that must be addressed. From experience, armed robbery has been attracting death penalty from the 70s, yet we still have armed robbers. So, we need to address our socio- economic problems, such as unemployment, inequity, the gap between the rich and the poor these are serious issues we must address. In his opinion, Chief Yemi Okulaja SAN, said ‘’in America they still kill and in China they still kill. All our laws are taken from the Holy Books, you can always trace the origin of all the laws we have from the Bible. So, if you kill you should be able to pay the penalty. You have deprived a man of his life, so why should your life be saved? But, over time, we have had human rights activists and they have been the ones coming out with all these modifications. In America, it is a State by State basis, if you go to a State like Texas, once you commit a crime and you are sentenced and on the death roll, you will eventually be killed. I believe death penalty should be allowed to stay because this punishment is to serve as a deterrent so that when you know that you stand the risk of losing your life you will sit-up. Especially in our country where impunity has been institutionalised, I believe death penalty should still be part of our law. Justice is not a one- way traffic. If a man kills and human rights activists are saying he should not be killed. We should look at justice to the victims too. Mr. Norrison Quakers, SAN said ‘’my take on this is that we should go beyond just kidnapping and include official corruption and criminal breach of trust incorporating politically exposed persons, who loot and plunder our common wealth and inheritance by virtue of their political off. The irony of our situation is that some of the legislators are former chief executive officers of states. Can these persons enact a law that will prejudice their interest? Ponder on this. In his view the Chairman, League of Human Rights Lawyers (LHRL), Jiti Ogunye, said ‘’have capital punishment stopped armed robbery? It has not. It is wrong to assume that severity of punishment including the ultimate penalty, will act as deterrent to commission of crimes. It has no historical foundation, it has no jurisprudential foundation, it has no foundation in real life. So, in our jurisdiction, since the end of the Civil war and the promulgation of the Robbery and Firearms Decree and the establishment of the Robbery and Firearm have not stopped armed robbery. ‘’Tribunal throughout the entire military period before that tribunal were abolished went civil rule returned to Nigeria and the execution of armed robbers at bar CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 beach in various places all over the country, armed robbery has not stopped. The toughening of law against kidnapping alone will not dissuade prospective kidnappers from kidnapping. Those who commit crime believe that they can escape. So, curtailing crimes is not just a crime and punishment issue it is more important the law and order issue and a socio- economic justice issue. If you want to check kidnapping you need to check the rate of unemployment, and equip the law enforcement agencies. In his view, Mr. Wale Adesokan said ‘’my own view is that, it not the severity of the penalty to an offence that curbs the offence but the mere certainty of been caught. So, it is more important for us to look at our criminal justice system, equip our law enforcement agencies with equipment and right orientation. So that when someone commits an offence he knows that the possibility of been caught is very high. When the Criminal Justice procedure is set in motion, it is possible to quickly conclude criminal matters. He delay in concluding criminal matters is a major clog in the discouragement of criminal activities. If it is such that will reform our criminal justice and ensure that criminal matters are concluded between nine months and one year, things will improve drastically. ‘’So it is a combination of improving the law enforcement capacity so those criminals are caught when they commit criminal acts and also when they are taken to court, the law are reformed such that can be concluded within one year. Those are the two things that will curb any criminal activity including kidnapping and not the severity of the punishment. No matter the severity of the punishment if people think they can get away with it they will continue’’. ]]>