Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello
Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Bello, has signed a bill proposing death by hanging for cattle rustlers, kidnappers, and their informants into law.
The Niger lawmakers passed the bill on the floor of the House on July 1.
According to Bello, the kidnapping and cattle rustling special provisions law of 2016 were amended to ensure the punishment of spies and all those involved in the aiding and abetting of abducting and cattle rustling in the state.
He said informants who are seen as accomplices of the kidnappers will now have to face death by hanging in public.
“The law now provides that whoever instigates any person to kidnap a person or rustle cattle, or intentionally aids, abets or facilitate by any acts of omission or commission of the offense of kidnapping and or cattle rustling is guilty of an offense and is liable on conviction to death by hanging in public,” he said in a report by The Cable.
The governor said the disciplinary measures had become vital due to the security crises that threaten peaceful coexistence in the state.
He lamented the role of informants who, according to him, have contributed to frustrating efforts of the security operatives in tackling the activities of kidnappers and cattle rustlers.
Bello also said the vigilante amendment law was meant to revitalize and reinforce the state vigilante corps for better operational efficiency in the discharge of their statutory function of “complementing the efforts of our conventional federal security forces.”
