The Lagos Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has signed into law Life Imprisonment or death penalty for the offence of kidnap and forceful extortion in Lagos State as he signs into law the state kidnapping prohibition bill, 2016.

 

The law provides for death penalty for kidnappers whose victims die in their custody, and life imprisonment for the act of kidnapping. This might affect the fate of Nigerian billionaire kidnapper, Evans who reportedly raked an aggregate of $6 million from the illicit career in about a decade.

 

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Lagos State House of Assembly passed the bill on January 5, 2017.

 

The governor said that the law was enacted to address key issues bordering on security. He said that kidnapping had become a major threat to the safety of residents and, therefore, required decisive action by the government.

 

“This law imposes a penalty of life imprisonment for kidnapping for ransom.

 

“The law stipulates that, where a victim dies in the course of kidnapping, the suspect is liable on conviction to death.

 

“Security is of utmost importance to our administration, and we are confident that this law will serve as a deterrent to anybody, who may desire to engage in this wicked act within the boundaries of Lagos State.

 

“Our justice system will be required to execute this law in absolute and make sure that any criminal caught faces the full wrath of the law,” he said.

 

Based on this, it is very likely, George Evans gets a life imprisonment or death penalty sentence depending on the extent to which the accusations against him as well as confessions are backed with hard evidence and argued well in the court of law.

 

This according to public opinions is very necessary to serve as a deterrent to other kidnappers operating freely across Nigeria under the guise of unemployment and high poverty rate in the country.