Niger Governor signs law to hang bandits, kidnappers, others

Due to the spike in insecurity in the country, Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello of Niger State, on Friday, signed into law, death penalty by hanging for cattle rustlers, bandits, kidnappers, and informants in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on July 1, the Niger State House of Assembly passed into law a bill prescribing death penalty for informants, kidnappers, and cattle rustlers in the State.

Bello said the Kidnapping and cattle rustling special provisions law of 2016 was amended to provide for the punishment of informants and all those involved in the aiding and abetting of kidnapping and cattle rustling in the state.

He said that informants who aid and abet kidnappers would now have to face death sentence by hanging in public as now enshrined in the state law.

”The law now provides that whoever instigates any person to kidnap a person or rustle cattle, or intentionally aides, abets or facilitate 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,” he said.

The governor said the punitive measure was a good stride and had become necessary given the security challenges that have continued to threaten the peaceful coexistence of the state in particular and the country at large.

He regretted the unpatriotic activities of informants who, according to him, have contributed to thwarting efforts of the security agencies in combating the nefarious activities of kidnappers and cattle rustlers.

He noted that the vigilante amendment law was meant to invigorate and strengthen the state vigilante corp for better operational efficiency in the discharge of their statutory function of complementing the efforts of the conventional federal security forces.

The governor expressed hope that the signing of the State Assembly Service Commission Law would further enhance the activities of legislators and solidify the already existing synergy between the executive and the legislature.