The Kano State House of Assembly has passed into law, a bill seeking life imprisonment for kidnappers in the state. The bill was passed by the whole House today, Monday.
Majority Leader of the Assembly, Alhaji Yusuf Atta, who read the Kidnapping, Abduction and Forced Labour Amendment Bill 2016 before the Assembly said: “the law has been in existence since 1963, but did not provide serious punishment for kidnappers, therefore, we have to amend it to suit the current situation.”
Atta, who is a member representing Fagge Constituency, explained that any person found guilty of kidnapping would face life imprisonment without an option of fine.
According to him, anyone found guilty of raping or forced labour will also be sentenced to 15 years without an option of fine.
Also, in an interview with newsmen after the passage of the bill, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Alhaji Salisu Ibrahim Riruwai, said that the amendment was a welcome development.
“With the passage of this anti kidnapping law, we are hoping that the rampant cases of kidnapping and abduction in some areas of the state will come to an end.”
Similarly, the Assembly has also commenced the amendment process on Kano State Pension Gratuity Amendment Bill 2013 during the plenary. [myad]
