Name Terrorism Financiers, NASS Tells FG
The National Assembly (NASS) has urged the Federal Government of Nigeria (FG) to publicly identify and prosecute individuals and networks financing terrorism, as part of efforts to tackle the country’s growing insecurity.
At a joint session on Wednesday, both chambers of NASS called for the disclosure of terror financiers. Meanwhile, the Senate of Nigeria proposed an amendment to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 to define kidnapping, hostage-taking and related offences as acts of terrorism, and to impose the death penalty on kidnappers and anyone aiding them.
The bill, sponsored by the Senate leader Opeyemi Bamidele, passed unanimously and was referred to committees for further work. Its goal is to give security agencies expanded mandate to disrupt and prosecute criminal networks behind abductions and ransom-financing.
Lawmakers emphasized that modern kidnappings have turned into “coordinated, commercialised and militarised acts of violence,” with devastating impacts: communities live in fear; economic activities, agriculture and education have all been disrupted; many families have been bankrupted by ransom demands.
Beyond death-penalty proposals, the House of Representatives laid out several recommendations: financiers of terrorism and banditry should be named, sanctioned and prosecuted; a special court for terrorism, banditry and kidnapping should be created; penalties for arms-trafficking and illegal possession of weapons should be strengthened; and security spending should be ensured through stable, predictable funding.
