Death by Law, Leniency by Courts: Nigeria’s Bloody Paradox

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Standfirst:

The law prescribes death. Courts prescribe leniency. Nigerians pay with blood.





Rejoinder:

Court Jails 386 Terrorists in Four Days Is No Victory — Instant Execution for Captured Terrorists Is the Only Signal That Government Means Business


By Mike Olatunji

Writes from Lagos


Opening

The Nigerian judiciary never ceases to amaze us with its convoluted judgments.


Sometime last year or two years ago, one of our respected judges was kidnapped and later released. Legal luminary Professor Mike Ozekhome, SAN, was also kidnapped and released. Yet the judiciary continues to grant these dreaded groups freedom disguised as prison sentences, refusing to learn from experience.


Can any citizens from Plateau, Katsina, or Benue states—whose people have been massacred by these faceless terrorists—become a judge today and forgive terrorists brought before his court? The answer is a categorical no. Since the law already prescribes the death sentence, why impose imprisonment?


The Law Prescribes Death

Section 4(2) of the _Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022_ states: “where death results from any terrorist act, the penalty shall be death sentence”. Yet courts hand down long prison terms instead. Why are judges reluctant to apply the full weight of the law?


Rehabilitation Enables Terrorism

Terrorism does not require integration or rehabilitation. Rehabilitation encourages terrorism; it does not eradicate it. Jailing terrorists is not sound judgement. It amounts to government complicity in the crime it claims to fight.


When a serving Major General can be killed in broad daylight and the state responds with jail terms or amnesty, what hope remains for the families of the dead?


Instant Execution as Public Judgement 

The moment a terrorist is captured in the act, judgement should be an instant firing squad. Citizens number in the millions; terrorists are in the thousands. These are not cases of mistaken identity. This is about armed men caught in forests and deserts—places no law-abiding citizen frequents.


Once caught in the act, there must be no adjournment. It must be outright execution. Terrorists waste no time killing our soldiers and citizens. Why do courts employ delay tactics that free criminals?


Enforce the Statute

Headlines like _Court Jails 386 Terrorists in Four Days_ are not a victory. Jailing multiplies criminals. Government must rescind jail terms and adopt instant execution as provided by Section 4(2) of the Act.


The Federal Government of Nigeria should not be lenient with terrorists but must be as hard in action as the terrorist groups are. Criminal law does not smile at crime. Government must wake from its slumber. Softness towards terror is an invitation to more graves. Only instant execution sends an unambiguous signal that the state means business.

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