A House of Representatives member, Hon. Fatoba Olusola, has called for the strengthening and implementation of the country’s criminal laws to address the country’s security challenges.
Fatoba, who attributed the spike in insecurity across Nigeria to lack of stringent punitive action and deterrence, said laws related to violent crimes are also not being implemented to the letter.
The federal lawmaker, who represents Ado-Ekiti/Irepodun-Ifelodun federal central constituency 1 at the National Assembly, said kidnapping, murder, armed robbery, banditry and the likes, are violent crimes which must attract capital punishment in accordance with the law to serve as a deterrent to other criminally-minded people.
Fatoba told journalists in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital that the establishment of state police to tackle the rising insecurity in the country was imperative.
While asserting that the system seemingly lacks punishment and deterrence for such crimes, he said, “Our law is so weak and this is why I am making a move to rally some of my colleagues to sponsor a bill of amendment to our criminal and penal codes. In a situation whereby someone is sentenced to death and he has been there for 15 to 20 years and none of the governors is willing to sign the death warrant and at the end of the day they will be released back into society is unhealthy.
“We saw what happened at the Kuje Prison in Abuja, where prisoners were released back to society and a lot of these people are now within the society and are yet to be ar-arrested. So, these are parts of the problems, there should be a deterrent for offences. Anything that has to do with criminality, there must be punishment.”
He, therefore, advised state governors in the federation to always sign capital punishment for kidnappers, ritual killers, murderers and others found culpable of violent crimes.
While condemning the murder of two traditional rulers and the abduction of school pupils and their teachers, he expressed confidence that the perpetrators of the heinous acts will be fished out as ordered by President Bola Tinubu and the kidnap victims rescued unhurt.
