By Correspondent in Minna
Henceforth, any person in Niger state, with proven case of being an informant to Kidnappers will be committed to death by hanging.
The Reporters recalls that Niger state has been having tough time coping with the activities of Kidnappers and other criminal elements making life unbearable, including killing, for its residents for quite sometime now.
To actualise the practicability of the law and others signed, the Governor of the state and Chairman, North Central States Governor’s Forum (NCSGF), Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello,has assented to some the bill and others, recently passed by the state House House of Assembly into law.
This, according Mary Noel-Berje, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor in Minna,in a statement,is in line with Section 100(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
The Laws,she added, include: The Kidnapping and Cattle Rustling (Special Provisions) Law, 2021, the Niger State Vigilante Corps (Amendment) Law, 2021; the Niger State House of Assembly Service Commission Law, 2020, the Office of the Auditor-General of the State Law, 2021 and the Office of the Auditor General of the Local Government Law, 2021
Noel-Berje, qouted Governor Sani Bello, as having signed the bills at the brief event at the Government House Minna, adding that the governor the Kidnapping and Cattle Rustling Special Provisions Law of 2016 was amended to provide for the punishment of informants.
According to the governor, the law takes care of all those involved in the aiding and abetting of kidnapping and Cattle Rustling in the state.
The Governor further stated that informants who aids and abets Kidnappers would now have to face death sentence by hanging in public as now enshrined in the state law.
According to him, the law now provides that “whoever instigates any person to kidnap a person or rustle cattle, or intentionally aides, abets or facilitates by any acts of omission or commission of the offence of kidnapping and or Cattle Rustling, is guilty of an offence and is liable, on conviction, to death by hanging in public”
Sani Bello also said that the punitive measure was a good stride that had become necessary, given the continued security challenges threatening the peaceful coexistence of the state in particular and the country in general.
He expressed concern over the unpatriotic activities of informants who, according to him, had contributed to thwarting efforts of the security agencies in combating the activities of Kidnappers and cattle rustlers.
The Governor also noted that the Vigilante Amedment Law was meant to invigorate and strengthen the state vigilante corps for better operational efficiency in the discharge of their statutory function of complementing the efforts of our conventional federal security forces.
He also expressed hope that the signing of the State Assembly Service Commission Law into law would further enhance the activities of legislators and solidify the existing synergy between Executive and the Legislature.
