By Matthew Johnson

Strong opposition to the proposed introduction of the death penalty for kidnapping dominated proceedings at the Senate public hearing on Thursday, as the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, among other key justice-sector institutions, warned that capital punishment would not curb the crime.

The public hearing was convened by the Senate to consider a proposed amendment to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, seeking to expand the scope of the death penalty to include kidnapping and related offences.

In their separate submissions before the lawmakers, the AGF, NBA, Nigerian Law Reform Commission, NLRC, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, and the NHRC expressed deep reservations about the proposal, arguing that empirical evidence and Nigeria’s own experience do not support the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent to kidnapping.

The institutions cautioned that rather than reducing insecurity, the move could further strain the criminal justice system and distract attention from the underlying causes of kidnapping and violent crimes across the country.

Reacting to the development, former United Nations Human Rights Envoy and Professor of Human Rights Law at Bournemouth University, United Kingdom, Prof. Uchenna Emelonye, described the convergence of views by Nigeria’s leading legal and human rights bodies as a significant moment in the country’s legislative history.

“I welcome the courage and clarity demonstrated today by Nigeria’s key justice and human rights institutions,” Emelonye said. “Their submissions reaffirm what empirical evidence, comparative global experience and Nigeria’s own history clearly show — that expanding capital punishment will not stop kidnapping.”

He stressed that Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis is largely driven by systemic weaknesses in policing, investigation and prosecution, as well as porous borders, arms proliferation, poor intelligence coordination and deep socio-economic challenges.

According to him, the introduction of the death penalty within a criminal justice system grappling with investigative gaps and a high risk of wrongful convictions poses the danger of irreversible miscarriages of justice, without delivering any meaningful security benefits.

Emelonye urged the Senate to redirect its legislative focus towards intelligence-led policing, effective investigation and prosecution of kidnapping cases, improved border security, arms control, judicial efficiency and victim-centred justice mechanisms.

He also called for the adoption of preventive, community-based and socio-economic security strategies, noting that punitive lawmaking alone cannot address Nigeria’s complex security challenges.

Thursday’s hearing, observers said, underscored a rare consensus among Nigeria’s top legal authorities that insecurity cannot be tackled through symbolic severity, but through structural, evidence-based and rights-compliant reforms.

“The Senate now has a well-informed opportunity to legislate on reforms that will genuinely save lives, rather than amendments that merely sound tough,” Emelonye added.

The Senate is expected to review the submissions made at the hearing before taking a final decision on the proposed amendment to the Terrorism Act.