A bill proposing the death penalty for the crimes of kidnapping and hostage-taking passed second reading in the Senate during a plenary session on Wednesday chaired by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The bill, sponsored by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, seeks to classify all kidnapping-related crimes as acts of terrorism and prescribes the death penalty without the option of fines or alternative sentences. Lawmakers said the move is part of ongoing efforts to amend the country’s anti-terrorism laws.
On the urgency of the matter, Senate President Akpabio said the bill should be moved quickly through the legislative process. He said: “It’s something we expedited to go to a public hearing and then to a concordance. Because really, everything you’re saying here, you have to say it in a public hearing and then ban it to fit today’s situation.”
During the session, Akpabio took an oral vote and asked senators to express their support. “My distinguished colleagues, those who support this bill are now read a second time to say hello and those against say no. The ‘Hello’s got it,'” he said.
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He formally presented the content of the bill, explaining that its objective is to modify the Anti-Terrorism Law to designate kidnapping and related crimes as acts of terrorism. Reading the main proposal, he said: “I propose a law to amend the Prevention and Prohibition of Terrorism Law to designate kidnapping, hostage-taking and related crimes as acts of terrorism to prescribe the death penalty for such crimes without the option of fines or alternative sentences and for related matters.”
He also read the formal title of the bill for clarity: “This is a bill to amend the Prevention and Prohibition of Terrorism Act to designate kidnapping, hostage-taking and subsequent offenses as acts of terrorism to prescribe the death penalty for such offenses without the option of fines or alternative sentences and for subsequent matters until 2025.”
After the second reading, the bill was referred to the Judicial Affairs, Human Rights and Legal Commission, with the support of the National Security and Interior Commissions. The committees were ordered to report within two weeks.
The first reading of the bill took place on November 27, 2025, a day after lawmakers resolved to classify kidnapping as terrorism. It was approved in first reading after majority support in an oral vote.
Newslodge