Kidnapping in Nigeria, particularly in the Southern part of the country, has over the years become a societal menace. It has grown from being a means of registering grievances to become a means of survival for the criminally minded. Many victims have lost their lives to kidnappers while other hapless citizens have also died for being at the right place at the wrong time during a kidnap incident.
Recently, the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole accented to a bill that prescribes capital punishment for kidnappers.  His  Bayelsa State counterpart, Governor, Seriake Dickson also initiated a bill suggesting capital punishment for kidnappers in the state. Our correspondent Sogbeba Dokubo went round to seek opinions from the public.
Excerpts:
Reverend Ibinabo Briggs, Blessed Baptist Church: The issue of capital punishment to a religions body like ours and  the faith-based organizations cannot be supported because we are in the era of grace. In the old testament when people committed sins such as this, the penalty was death, but Jesus has come to pay the price for sinners. There is a final day of judgement for those who do not repent. The church is against kidnapping because it is dehumanizing.
It is also an act of wickedness to humanity and not acceptable before God. Thus era of grace is not a licence to sin.
The church is against it, but the aspect of capital punishment does not give room for repentance of such wicked act. In my own opinion, when such persons are arrested, that is when the government and the church should partner. Such persons need rehabilitation to lead them to Christ. Their actions are often caused by lack of joblessness and lack of  empowerment, in terms of entrepreneurial skills.
Non- Governmental Organisations, Government and the Church need to act in synergy to fight this menace called kidnapping. Rehabilitation is a kind of confining the kidnappers, it involves checkmating and empowerment. If they are engaged in doing one thing or the other, they would definitely desist from such acts because the idle man’s heart is the devil’s workshop.
My advice to the youths is to get their hearts busy, in a positive direction. They should not only depend on the government, NGOs and the Church. They should believe in themselves and bear in mind that the youth are the leaders of tomorrow.

Mrs Roseline Gabriel, Civil Servant: I don’t subscribe to capital punishment because killing someone is a crime. The government should not do it either. Life imprisonment is a better alternative than the death penalty, if the goal is to deter the kidnappers. There are different circumstances associated with each violent crime, including mental illness, low intelligence, and other  factors which affect the mind of criminals.
Consequently, I feel it would be impossible to determine which criminals deserve the death penalty in view of the foregoing.
We should tread carefully before we slaughter innocent people for nothing. Even with the almost air tight  investigative methods in the developed world, their  government still find it difficult to sign death warrants for the fear of wrongfully executing an innocent person.

Mrs Peace Amos Peters, Civil Servant: First and foremost, we need to be very legalistic in whatever we do. The issue of kidnapping, the punishment for it must come from the constitution we operate. The constitution clearly states that nobody should be deprived of his liberty, as kidnappers do. The issue of kidnap is a very serious offence that endangers development in our society.
I will suggest that kidnapers should not be killed but be kept in prison to really suffer for their crime. This is because Rivers State has recorded so many deaths involving our youth particularly males who took to militancy. A recent statistics shows that females are more than males, so why do we kill them. Instead they should be remodeled in prison to be engaged in one skill or the other to make them useful citizens upon their release.

George, Baiyene         Melford, Legal Practitioner: For me, I will look at it from two angles. First, as a Christian, secondly, as a legal practitioner and member of the society. As a Christian, I don’t believe in taking human life, no matter the offence or crime committed. This is because vengeance is of God and He alone punishes any offender or defaulter.
As a legal practitioner and a member of the society, I subscribe strongly to the maximum punishment prescribed for kidnappers that are found culpable according to  law. If the law prescribes death penalty, so be it. This is because in cause of carrying out the act of kidnapping, the kidnappers often take the lives of their hapless victims. Besides, when kidnappers are aware that the punishment for the offence is death, it will automatically reduce the consistency of the act and that will help the society a great deal.
My candid advice to the youth is to get involved in some skill acquisition in order to divert their energies to useful ventures.
Sola Emenike: The death penalty is okay because I do not think we should reward murderers by keeping them alive in the prisons where they are fed everyday. If they are useless to society, they should be gotten rid of. I think that death penalty should be visited on those who are found guilty of kidnapping.
I do not subscribe to using our taxes to keep murderers alive in prison. The death penalty was first instituted by God Himself in Genesis Chapter 9, Verse 6. Though we live in an age when we have raised the campaign against the death penalty, but God has given man the moral duty to execute those who chose to take the lives of others.
Ibife Samuel: Kidnapping, no doubt, is a criminal offence. However you look at it, it is a crime against humanity. The victims are often made to pass through traumatic conditions that would haunt them for life, particularly women who are raped while in the custody of the criminal.
The act has drastically affected the economy of some States and the country, while many lives have also been lost to kidnapping. The crime of kidnapping has become more rampant than armed robbery as people are often times murdered in order to get the targeted victim in addition to the demand for outrageous sums of money as ransom before the release of victims.
For these and many other reasons, any kidnapper found guilty of the crime should face capital punishment.
Besides, our security system should also be overhauled to make it difficult, if not impossible for kidnappers and intending kidnappers to ply their trade. This is because kidnappers are more likely to be more ruthless when they know that they will be killed if caught.