The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday passed for second reading a bill seeking to officially classify kidnapping as an act of terrorism.
Sponsored by Senate Leader Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele and co-sponsored by 108 senators, the proposed legislation is formally titled: “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act to Designate Kidnapping, Hostage-Taking and Related Offences as Acts of Terrorism… To Prescribe Death Penalty for Such Offences Without Option of Fine or Alternative Sentence; And For Related Matters, 2025.”
The amendment also seeks to impose the death penalty on kidnappers, as well as anyone who aids, supports, or facilitates kidnapping operations.
During plenary, Sen. Bamidele explained that the increasing sophistication and brutality of kidnappings in Nigeria warranted the reclassification of the crime as terrorism.
He described the operations of kidnapping networks as “coordinated, commercialised, and militarised criminal enterprises.”
“Kidnapping has instilled widespread fear, disrupted economic activities, bankrupted families, and claimed countless lives.”
“The patterns now bear all the characteristics of terrorism. Our legal framework must reflect the magnitude of the threat,” Bamidele said.
He noted that reclassifying kidnapping as terrorism would grant law enforcement agencies expanded powers, including asset tracing, forfeiture, intelligence-led operations, enhanced inter-agency collaboration, and accelerated pre-trial procedures.
The bill stipulates that perpetrators, financiers, informants, logistics providers, harbourers, and anyone knowingly supporting kidnapping activities would face the death penalty.
Attempts, conspiracies, or incitement to commit kidnapping would carry the same punishment.
“No innocent person or community is targeted. This bill targets violent offenders and the networks that enable them while preserving constitutional safeguards for fair trial,” Bamidele emphasized.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred the bill to the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, National Security and Intelligence, and Interior for further review, instructing them to submit their report within two weeks.
