Terrorism Act: Senate bans payment of ransom to kidnappers
Senate has approved the bill seeking the amendment of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2013, and to ban the payment of ransom to kidnappers.
The bill was approved, subsequent to the consideration of a report by the House, Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, under the chairmanship of Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti).
Bamidele in his address, explained that the bill seeks to illegalize the payment of ransom to kidnappers, bandits and terrorist for release of anyone who has been wrongly kidnapped, confined or detained.
He said, “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.”
He however gave an assurance that the amendment to the Terrorism Act would reduce the chances which the terrorists utilized to launder money via the banking system and other financial means.
He further asserted that, “having policies in place to combat financing of terrorism will surely reduce or eliminate privacy and anonymity in financial and other sundry transactions as it relates to the subject in our society.”
He explained that the National Task Force on sustaining Nigeria’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime in Nigeria, suggested improvement on the Act in order to correct the inadequacies noted in its stipulations so as to commensurate with the required standard as obtainable in other jurisdictions.
He stressed the proposed enactment Bill was done in order to improve the effectiveness of countermeasures against terrorism, terrorism financing and proliferation financing.
He noted that it is also done to provide sufficient framework for developed international collaboration, inter-agency cooperation and freezing of terrorist funds/assets.
Bamidele said the passage of this Bill will protect Nigeria from its inclusion among countries in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List with its attendant negative consequences, which might lead to international sanctions that would tarnish the reputation of the country among the comity of nations.
