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August 28, 2006
Militants to face life jail * Anti-terrorism agency to be established
ABUJA— THE Senate has received another bill, prescribing a life imprisonment for those involved in hostage taking, kidnapping and other related activities committed in the country. The bill entitled: “An Act to Prohibit Terrorism” sponsored by Senator Ben Obi (PDP, Anambra Central) is coming after a similar bill proposed by President Olusegun Obasanjo entitled: “Prevention of Terrorism Act.”
By Emmanuel Aziken
Posted to the Web: Monday, August 28, 2006
President Obasanjo’s bill prescribes a maximum of 20-year jail term for those who are found guilty of what it defines as terrorism actions. Senator Obi’s proposals against terrorism also aim to establish an anti-terrorism agency which would be a specialised counter-terrorism organ saddled with the responsibility of enforcing anti-terrorism and other related laws.
The bill which specifies acts considered as terrorism and makes provisions for punishment when passed into law would repeal Section 14 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act 2003 which prescribes punishment for terrorism acts.
It says:
No person or body corporate shall:
(a) Carry out or attempt to carry out any act which is a violation of the criminal code or the penal code and which may endanger the life, physical integrity or freedom of, or cause serious injury or death to any person, any number or group of persons or cause or may cause damage to public property, natural resources,
environmental or cultural heritage and is calculated or intended to: intimidate, put in fear, force, coerce or induce any government, body, institution, the general public or any segment thereof, to do or abstain from doing any act or adopt or abandon a particular standpoint, or to act according to certain principle, or disrupt any public service, the delivery of any essential service to the public or to create a public emergency or create a general insurrection in a state."
The bill gives exclusive jurisdiction to the Federal High Court for the trial of all cases.
The bill seeking to establish the Nigerian Anti-Terrorism Agency provides for an Advisory Committee for the agency which shall include the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, the head of the Defence Intelligence Agency, the Director-Generals, National Intelligence Agency and the State Security Service.
Also to be included in the committee are the head of the proposed agency and a representative of the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Posted by Publisher at August 28, 2006 09:41 AM
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