EDO State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has signed into law the “Kidnapping Prohibition Law 2009” as recently amended by the Edo 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 yesterday in Benin said, “That 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”
Oshiomhole while appending his signature to the Bill yesterday in Benin said, “That 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”, just as he insisted that those who argued that the problem of kidnapping came from unemployment should not simplify a very complex issue as kidnappers do not have state of origin and they were migrants and do not respect neither state, national or international boundaries.
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.
“I am convinced that all of us in the three arms of government, that is, the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary 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 came from neighboring states and sometimes from far away states to perpetrate various crimes in EdoState 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”, adding that everything was being done to keep the criminals in check.
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