RE: Death Penalty Is No Cure for Kidnapping
By Joel Maina
I write in response to your editorial, “The Death Penalty Imperative,” published in The Nation of July 16, 2026. Like many Nigerians, I share the newspaper’s outrage over the devastating wave of kidnappings that has claimed the lives of military personnel, schoolchildren, traditional rulers, travellers and countless innocent citizens. The scale of the crisis demands urgent and decisive action.
However, the conclusion that the uncompromising application of the death penalty is the solution to Nigeria’s kidnapping epidemic is neither supported by evidence nor likely to deliver the desired outcome. It risks diverting attention from the deeper institutional failures that have allowed kidnapping to flourish.
The editorial dismisses the reservations expressed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), and the Nigerian Bar Association as sentimental. Yet the Attorney-General’s position is rooted in both legal experience and practical realities. During the Senate public hearing in December 2025 on proposed amendments to Nigeria’s anti-terrorism and anti-kidnapping laws, Fagbemi opposed moves to expand the application of capital punishment, arguing that the death penalty has not been shown to deter serious crimes and could ultimately prove counterproductive. His position reflects a growing body of legal scholarship and international evidence that questions the deterrent value of executions. Across the world, there is little empirical proof that capital punishment prevents violent crimes more effectively than the certainty of arrest, conviction and lengthy imprisonment.
Criminals are influenced less by the severity of punishment than by the likelihood of being apprehended. In Nigeria, kidnappers often operate with the confidence that they can evade law enforcement. Weak intelligence gathering, poor inter-agency coordination, inadequate surveillance technology, porous borders and delayed investigations have created an environment where criminal gangs calculate that the odds remain in their favour. Under such circumstances, replacing life imprisonment with execution changes very little.
The greater challenge is the weakness of the criminal justice system. Many kidnapping cases remain unsolved for months or years, while victims’ families are left to negotiate ransom payments with little assurance of state protection. Without dramatically improving investigation and prosecution, harsher penalties merely create the appearance of toughness without addressing the root of the problem.
Equally troubling is the possibility of wrongful convictions. Nigeria’s justice system continues to struggle with unreliable investigations, allegations of coerced confessions, poor forensic capacity and unequal access to competent legal representation. The notorious Ikoku Five case in Port Harcourt remains a sobering reminder of these dangers. Five automobile mechanics were allegedly tortured into confessing to the theft of vehicles that were later discovered not to have been stolen, while one of the suspects, Chima Ikwunado, died from injuries sustained in police custody. Likewise, investigations by Amnesty International have documented instances in which detainees held by the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) alleged that they were beaten, suspended from iron rods and forced to sign confessional statements under torture. Such cases underscore the danger of imposing an irreversible punishment within a justice system that is still vulnerable to investigative flaws and abuses. Once an innocent person is executed, no appeal or judicial review can undo the error.
The editorial also overlooks the complex ecosystem that sustains kidnapping. The crime has evolved into a sophisticated criminal enterprise driven by organised networks, illicit arms trafficking, ransom financing, youth unemployment, weak local governance and compromised security structures. Eliminating individual kidnappers without dismantling these support systems is akin to treating symptoms while ignoring the disease.
Experience has shown that many kidnapping syndicates quickly replace arrested or killed members with new recruits. Unless the financiers, informants, suppliers of illegal weapons and influential collaborators are identified and prosecuted, executions alone cannot dismantle the criminal economy.
The reluctance of many state governors to sign death warrants should not simply be interpreted as political weakness. It may also reflect legitimate legal, constitutional and humanitarian concerns, as well as the growing international movement towards limiting or abolishing capital punishment. Indeed, many countries now prioritise effective policing, intelligence-led operations and efficient prosecution over executions because these measures have produced more sustainable results.
Rather than concentrating public attention on the death penalty, Nigeria should invest in reforms that demonstrably reduce crime. These include strengthening intelligence gathering, expanding digital surveillance and forensic capabilities, improving border security, securing forests and highways, enhancing community policing, protecting witnesses, disrupting ransom payment networks and ensuring swift prosecution of offenders through well-equipped courts.
Justice is not measured solely by the harshness of punishment. It is measured by the state’s ability to prevent crime, protect citizens, guarantee fair trials and hold offenders accountable without compromising the integrity of the legal system.
Nigeria undoubtedly needs a tougher response to kidnapping. But toughness should be reflected in the certainty of justice, not merely in the severity of punishment. A nation that catches kidnappers swiftly, convicts them fairly and dismantles their criminal networks will be far safer than one that relies principally on executions while the underlying conditions that breed insecurity remain unresolved.
- The objective should not simply be to punish criminals after lives have been lost. It should be to build institutions capable of preventing kidnappings from occurring in the first place. That, ultimately, is the justice Nigerians deserve.
Joel Maina
Student Intern at IMPR,
University of Abuja
Email: [email protected]
