On Wednesday, the Nigerian Senate amended and passed the Terrorism (Prevention) Act of 2013, which criminalizes paying ransom to kidnappers in Nigeria.
The bill was passed after the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters adopted its report in plenary. Concern is growing around the country over the spate of kidnapping which has become a huge enterprise for criminals.
Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, the Chairman of the Committee, said the aim of the bill is to prohibit the payment of ransom to abductors, kidnappers, and terrorists in exchange for the release of anyone who had been wrongly detained, imprisoned, or kidnapped.
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In the plethora provided to the committee, a slew of issues connected to terrorism and terrorism financing, as well as worldwide best practices, were discussed.
Bamidele stated that the amendment bill will establish standards and a regulatory structure to prevent terrorist organizations from laundering money through banks and other financial networks.
He went further to explain that putting regulations in place to combat terrorism financing would certainly limit or destroy privacy and anonymity in financial and other activities involving the issue in society.
“The overall import of this bill is to discourage the rising spate of kidnapping and abduction for ransom In Nigeria, which is fast spreading across the country,” the lawmaker said.
He said besides the need to make kidnapping a less lucrative enterprise, it has become necessary to review the Terrorism Prevention Act to mitigate the unfavorable ratings of Financial Act Task Force (FATF) and implement recommendations of Nigeria’s Mutual Evaluation Report. It will also has a bearing on the consequent placement of Nigeria in FATF’S International Cooperation and Review Group Process with its impending sanctions on Nigeria’s economy.
In addition, Bamidele said that the National Task Force on improving Nigeria’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime in Nigeria proposed improvement on the Act in order to address the deficiencies noted in its provisions so as to align with the required standard as obtainable in other jurisdictions.
“The passage of this Bill will save Nigeria from being included among countries in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List with its attendant negative consequences, which might ultimately result in international sanctions that would affect the image of the country in the comity of nations,” he said.
While the bill is seen so far as Nigeria’s toughest legislative measure against kidnapping, it has created a new dilemma for the Nigerian people. For years now, the Nigerian security architecture has failed to arrest the proliferation of insecurity. Only a few among many Nigerians kidnapped get rescued by security operatives, leaving the rest with the choice of paying ransom to the kidnappers.
Last year, a report by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) revealed that the rate of kidnapping across Nigeria increased by 169 per cent in two years. The report attributed the rising spate of kidnapping to poor performance by Nigerian securities.
“Our research finds a correlation between those who have had difficulty in getting police assistance and perceptions of police presence being associated with insecurity, even if their interaction with the police was unrelated to insecurity. Of respondents indicating that they had requested assistance from the police in the past 12 months, 64 per cent of those who rated their experience of getting police assistance as “difficult” or “very difficult” felt that the visible presence of the police meant that there was insecurity, versus only 21 per cent of such respondents who felt security was good when the police were visible. This echoes earlier survey research that showed that victims of insecurity were less trusting of state institutions,” the report said.
The Nigerian government has failed to change the current security status quo, indicating helplessness. Earlier this month, President Muhammadu Buhari said he had given service chiefs everything they asked for to tackle insecurity – meaning they have no excuses as banditry and terrorism ravage the country.
In the face of this vulnerability, the question that everyone is rightly asking is; will the Terrorism Prevention Act protect Nigerians from being kidnapped?
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said the bill would complement the federal government’s efforts in the fight against insecurity when signed into law by the President.
“It is our belief here in the Senate, that this bill, by the time signed into an Act by Mr. President, will enhance the efforts of this government in the fight against terrorism, kidnapping, and other associated and related vices.
“This is one piece of legislation that can turn around not only the security situation in Nigeria but even the economic fortunes of our country,” he said. But it is an assertion the majority of Nigerians are finding hard to believe.
In March, terrorists attacked a passenger train in Kaduna, killing scores and kidnapping many who are still being held captive. In response to government pleas for the release of the kidnapped victims, the terrorists have said that the Nigerian government knows what they want and their demand must be met before the victims could be freed. And this has been the situation in many other cases of kidnapping – ransom must be paid or victims get killed.
Against this backdrop, the bill has eliminated the last lifeline Nigerians use to save themselves from kidnappers. Although paying ransom means for many, selling their belongings, borrowing or crowd-funding, it offers a chance of survival to kidnapped victims.
From the notorious Chibok girls, which marks the first mass kidnapping incident in Nigerian history, to Hanifa, the 5-year old girl who was kidnapped and murdered by her school teacher in Kano, Nigerians have always been left to the mercy of kidnappers. Thus, the bill, which prescribes up to 15 years jail term for anyone who pays ransom to kidnappers, is seen as nothing but further pain on already helpless people – forcing them to choose between the devil and deep blue sea.