THE Eselu of Iselu, Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi yesterday asked the National Assembly to seek the release of Leah Sharibu and others from kidnappers before passing the bill to criminalise ransom payment to kidnappers.
The monarch condemned the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Bill, 2021 being considered by the Senate, describing it as misplaced, unpopular and needless.
The Senate on Wednesday passed for second reading, a bill seeking a 15-year jail term for anyone caught paying ransom to kidnappers.
In a letter to the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, Oba Akinyemi frowned at the bill, saying: “If we want the bill to be popular, the Federal Government should first rescue Leah Sharibu and other hundreds of innocent Nigerians who are still being held in kidnappers’ dens in all the nooks and crannies of our country, Nigeria.”
