Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, on Wednesday signed into law the anti-kidnapping bill recently passed by the State House of Assembly, with a pledge to ensure its full implementation to eradicate kidnapping once and for all in the State.
The Prohibition of the Act of Kidnapping Law imposes a penalty of life imprisonment on kidnapping for ransom. The law also stipulates that where a victim dies in the course of kidnap, the suspect is liable on conviction to death.
Speaking at the signing ceremony held at the Lagos House in Ikeja, Governor Ambode said the spate of kidnapping in the State had gotten to a level that required decisive action from government, hence the need for the enactment of the law to send serious message to perpetrators of such heinous crime.
He said aside the enactment of the law, the state government was also putting in place appropriate measures particularly in schools and other vulnerable targets to prevent kidnapping and other security breaches.
The governor said: “Security is of utmost importance to our administration and we are confident that this law will serve as a deterrent to anybody who may desire to engage in this wicked act within the boundaries of Lagos.
“Why we use this law to address the challenge and punish the criminals, we are also putting in place appropriate measures particularly in our schools and other vulnerable targets to prevent security breaches and it is important that we ensure that everything we do in respect of this anti-kidnapping law is in good faith and good spirit to eradicate the issue of kidnapping once and for all in the State.”
Governor Ambode assured that the justice system would be activated to execute the anti-kidnapping law to the letter to ensure that any criminal caught is subjected to the full wrath of the law.
In his remarks, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, said the signing of the bill into law was a clear testimony of the commitment of the state government to the security of citizens and sports development.
Obasa, who was represented by the Majority Leader of the House, Sanai Agunbiade, said it was particularly gratifying to note that the anti-kidnapping law was an all-encompassing one which prescribes punishment for the actual actors, those that collaborate, aid and abet and those who see the act of kidnapping being perpetrated and do nothing about it, as well as confiscation of properties attached to the heinous crime of kidnapping.
He said the passage and signing of the law was a direct response and responsiveness of the government to the spate of kidnapping in the state, adding that the expansive provisions in the law would, in no long distant future, ensure the eradication of the menace.
