Senate Declares Kidnapping an Act of Terrorism, Backs Death Penalty 

Nigeria’s Senate on Wednesday took a decisive and hard-line stance against the country’s escalating kidnap epidemic, officially designating kidnapping as a form of terrorism and supporting capital punishment for anyone proven guilty of the crime.

Lawmakers overwhelmingly agreed that offenders should face the death penalty without the possibility of fines, plea bargains, or judicial discretion, signaling the legislature’s toughest position yet on violent abductions.

The emotionally charged debate was sparked by the brutal November 18 attack on Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, located in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State. Armed assailants stormed the church during evening activities, killing two congregants and forcefully taking 38 others into the surrounding forest.

Multiple days of anxiety followed until a coordinated rescue operation, involving the Nigerian Army, police forces, the Department of State Services, and community-led vigilante networks, successfully secured the release of all hostages.

Senators expressed relief that the victims survived, but warned that the incident highlighted a disturbing trend: criminal and extremist cells are extending deeper into typically quiet, agrarian regions where security infrastructure is weakest.

Several lawmakers noted that communities once regarded as safe havens have become targets, as criminal gangs exploit sparse surveillance and slow military response times in rural territories.

During the session, senators argued that Nigeria’s legal framework has not kept pace with the speed and brutality of kidnapping operations, which now include ransom-driven abductions, political intimidation, and the targeted killing of civilians.

They insisted that labeling kidnappers as terrorists places them in the same legal category as Boko Haram and other extremist factions, allowing for harsher prosecution, expedited judicial handling, and enhanced military intervention.

Security analysts have warned that Nigeria stands at a critical turning point, as kidnapping has evolved from sporadic incidents into a sophisticated economy of violence affecting farmers, travelers, students, clerics, transport workers, and traditional rulers.

The Senate’s new stance represents an attempt to reverse that trajectory through overwhelming legal deterrence.

The legislative body is expected to begin drafting formal amendments to existing terrorism and criminal statutes, setting the stage for one of the most uncompromising anti-kidnapping frameworks in Nigeria’s history.

Lawmakers stressed that the country can no longer afford leniency, insisting that the protection of life and public order must supersede every other consideration.