NIGERIA: BAYELSA STATE APPROVES DEATH PENALTY FOR KIDNAPPERS

February 13, 2013: Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s home state of Bayelsa signed a law approving the death penalty for convicted kidnappers, in a region were abductions by criminal gangs are common.
Kidnapping for ransom in the southern Niger Delta and offshore of the oil region is a multi-million dollar business. The vast majority of people taken are Nigerians, although foreigners are also regularly targeted.
The finance minister’s 82-year-old mother was abducted in December but released five days later. Five Indian sailors were freed last month after spending weeks in captivity.
“It is morally indefensible for young people … armed with illegal weapons … to forcefully abduct and rough handle people and take them as an article of trade,” Bayelsa Governor Seriake Dickson said when signing the law.
“Most people know that when I say something, I do it. I will not hesitate to sign a certificate of execution.”
Dickson said the security forces had several people in custody facing kidnapping charges. (Sources: Reuters, 15/02/2013)