The Nigerian upper Chamber, Senate, has approved death penalty for dealers and importers of cocaine, heroin and other hard drugs into the country.
The proposed capital punishment also applies to manufacturing, trafficking, dealing in or delivery of hard drugs by any means; as against the maximum punishment in the extant law for offenders is life imprisonment.
The bill which passes for a third reading was resolved on the floor of the red chamber after deliberations on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
The Senate Whip, Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South), recommended that the punishment of life imprisonment as captured in Section 11 of the extant law be toughened and upgraded to the death penalty.
He said, “This life imprisonment should be changed to a death sentence either by hanging or any way. This is the standard worldwide. We have to do this to address this problem of drugs that has seriously affected our youths.”
Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) stated that: “When a matter has to do with life and death, we should be accountable. Let’s divide the Senate. This is lawmaking. We are not here to take voice votes”, but was overruled by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, who presided over the plenary session.
Jibrin responded that, “This is about procedure. You were supposed to call for a division; you didn’t do so. I am sorry, I can’t help you.”
The report on the bill was jointly produced by the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters/Drugs and Narcotics.
Speaking with Senate correspondents after the plenary, the Chairman of the Joint Committee, Mohammed Monguno, said the Senate approved the death sentence, noting that the voices of Oshiomhole and others did not change the ruling of the presiding officer.
However, the proposed bill if passed to law would instill cautiousness to prohibited drug, traffickers and others.