Some civil society groups
in Rivers State have kicked against death penalty as one of the measures prescribed by the new bill on the Rivers State Secret Cult and Similar Acts Prohibition Amendment No. 1 Bill 2018 and Rivers State Kidnap Prohibition Amendment No. 2 Bill 2018 now before the state House of Assembly.
Making their views known during the public hearing on the two bills, including the Rivers State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Bill 2018, Programme Officer, Social Action, Prince Ekpere argued that inclusion of death penalty cannot be serve as a deterrent in the long run.
Ekpere insisted that the social cost of killing or hanging offenders to the kidnapping and cultism laws can negatively affect society, and suggested that life imprisonment should be the option.
The programme officer further submitted that, “We suggest that the existing laws on kidnapping and cultism be fully exhausted, since they are yet to be implemented effectively”.
Moreover, he argued that even in advanced countries, death penalty has not solved crime problems, but has rather worsened it, pointing out that many countries were removing capital punishment from their laws.
In his submission, Zonal Coordinator of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Zone B, Noble Nwokocha, stated that the Secret Cult Amendment Bill of 2018 should have remediation and rehabilitation provisions.
The NANS representative said the prison situation in Nigeria calls for ways to amend the nation’s laws such that offenders could be rehabilitated.
Nwokocha explained that death penalty was extreme considering the socio-economic factors that make students vulnerable, while suggesting the need to use remediation methods as deterrent for offenders.
On its part, a representative of National Association of Sea Dogs, Barrister Ikechukwu Okoroafor expressed support for the bills, as he recalled that in 2005, a court had ruled that the body was not a secret cult.
In his remarks, Chairman of the Public Hearing Committee and Majority Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon Martins Amaewhule said that the House will study all the views expressed at the sitting, as the bill awaits further debate by legislators.
Amaewhule stated that the public good was paramount to the House, arguing “A hungry man is an angry man, but that does not mean you should take another’s life… those who are engaged in crime are our brothers, we need to help them, but through a carrot and stick approach”.