First Lady Canvasses Death Penalty For Kidnappers Across States

President Bola Tinubu has directed the country’s security and intelligence agencies to immediately rescue the victims of abduction involving the  vulnerable, internally-displaced persons in Borno State and students in Kaduna State. 
 
President Tinubu also ordered the relevant agencies to ensure that justice is served against the perpetrators of the abominable acts. Bandits reportedly invaded the Kuriga area of the Chikun Local Council of Kaduna State last Thursday, shooting at their victims before taking away at least 280 of the pupils and teachers from both schools.

 
The incident occurred barely 24 hours after insurgents abducted 200 internally displaced women in Borno State. The women were kidnapped in Ngala, the headquarters of Gambarou Ngala in Borno State while fetching firewood in the bush.
 
Penultimate Thursday, bandits invaded Gonin-Gora in the same Chikun local council, prompting residents to barricade the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway in protest against the abduction of an unspecified number of people in the area.
 
President Tinubu, who condemned the heinous incidents in a statement yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, while expressing optimism about the rescue of the victims, said “nothing else is acceptable to me and the waiting family members of these abducted citizens.”

He added: “I have received briefing from security chiefs on the two incidents, and I am confident that the victims will be rescued. Nothing else is acceptable to me and the waiting family members of these abducted citizens. Justice will be decisively administered.”
 
The President sympathised with the families of the victims, assuring them that they would soon be reunited with their loved ones. Meanwhile, the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has called on state governors and lawmakers to prescribe capital punishment for kidnapping. She also described as hurtful the kidnapping of innocent children, who she also described as the future of the nation.
 
The First Lady spoke yesterday during a meeting with the National Women Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the State House, Abuja.
In a statement issued by her media aide, Busola Kukoyi, the First Lady described the kidnappers as cowards for taking hold of women and children, saying they are  inhumane and should be treated as such.

 
“They are cowards. Our hearts bleed. I call on the state governments that once we take hold of them, they deserve capital punishment. Why can’t they take men of their size? Why are they touching women and children? 
 
“What they are doing is that they are trying to kill our future. We all know that when parents are old, we rely on our children; we see them as our investments that have not gone to waste especially when they are successful. 
 
“Why will you now take them from their schools? Right now, I think enough is enough. As a former lawmaker, I believe that any one of them captured deserves capital punishment. 
 
“I believe most mothers will support me on this because we carry our children for nine months, and we cannot watch what we love to wither away,” she said. 
 
The First Lady further told the women that the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu places a strong emphasis on creating opportunities for women to thrive economically, socially and politically. 
 
“As women, we constitute a significant portion of our society, and it is vital that our voices are heard and our contributions acknowledged. As women leaders, your role is very crucial to our nation’s development. 
 
“You are the eyes and ears of the government at the grassroots.  I therefore encourage you to set a robust agenda for empowerment, inclusion and welfare of women within our party and across the nation,” she said. She also celebrated the International Women’s Day with the women and all other Nigerian women for their courage, resilience and doggedness.
 
“On my part, the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) was established to focus on championing women’s causes and implementing various programmes and initiatives nationwide with our motto, which states ‘Towards a better life for families.’
 
“Accelerating progress in any endeavour requires that women have to be more involved. That is why I see investing in women not as charity, but a crucial strategy to build the future of our dear nation, Nigeria,” she added.
 
Earlier, the group, led by its National Women Leader, Dr. Mary Idele Alile, her Deputy, Hajia Zainab Ibrahim, and members of the executive, thanked the First Lady for her impact on the lives of Nigerians, through her various interventions on the platform of the RHI. They also requested her to intervene by pressing for more inclusion in the activities of the current administration.