The Senate yesterday considered a bill seeking life jail for anyone found guilty of terrorist acts in the country.
The
bill titled “The Terrorism Prevention (Act) 2011 Amendment Bill 2012”,
sponsored by Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP, Cross River), passed
a second reading yesterday.
Leading
his debate on the bill, the leader of the Senate, said the bill sought
to make provisions for extra territorial application of the Act and
strengthen the section on terrorist financing offences and other related
matters.
According to him, the
highlights of the amendment sought is the territorial application of the
law because terrorism can be carried out within or outside the country,
and to tackle such, the principal Act needs to reflect that whether a
person knowingly in or outside Nigeria directly or indirectly commits
He
said the bill was essentially aimed at bringing the Terrorism Act 2011
in line with the new dimension which terrorism has assumed so that the
nation’s security agencies would be able to tackle acts of terrorism,
whether in or outside Nigeria.
The
bill also seeks amendment of Section 13 of the principal Act which makes
provisions for detention and seizure of terrorists properties.
The
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Ita
Enang (PDP, Akwa Ibom North-East) sought to know how far the Terrorism
Act has been implemented, but Senate President David Mark maintained
that even if a single word was missing from the principal Act, it was
necessary that such missing word is inserted in the Act.
The bill was later referred to the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence for further legislative input.
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