Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State on Thursday called for the immediate amendment of the Penal Code on kidnapping to the death penalty.
The governor made the call at the inauguration of the 16-man Commission of Inquiry over the kidnapping and selling off of nine Kano-born children in Onitsha, Anambra State.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, held at the government house, Ganduje said he directed the Ministry of Justice to amend the law, which hitherto provided for imprisonment to a death sentence.
According to him, the issue of kidnapping had taken a new dimension in the state that only capital punishment could contain it.
The governor described the kidnapping of the nine children as heinous, adding that it was not Islamic or Christianity but criminality which has to be dealt with accordingly.
Ganduje lamented that the rescued children had been deprived of their culture, religion, and family, stressing that the state government must rehabilitate the victims in order to reintegrate them into the society.
"These children will be rehabilitated. We must rehabilitate them. We must make them continue performing the Islamic religion. They will grow in our religion and culture," he said
Ganduje announced that the rescued children would enjoy the free and compulsory basic and secondary education introduces by his administration, adding that the government had also offered university scholarship to the victims.
He also donates the sum of N1 million each to the parents of the victims, stating that the government had now taken care of one of the rescued children yet to identify his parents.
Parts of the Terms of Reference given to the Commission included: "To conduct an inquiry into cases of missing persons in Kano State from the year 2010 to date and to procure all such evidence, written or oral, and to examine all such persons as witnesses as the commissioners may think it necessary or desirable to procure or examine.
"To summon any person in Nigeria to attend any meeting of the commissioners to give evidence or produce any document or other things in his possession and to require the evidence (whether written or oral) of any witness to be made on oath or declaration, such oath or declaration.
"To admit or exclude the public or any member of the public or press from any hearing of the commission, to prepare comprehensive data of missing persons in Kano State within the period and circumstances in which they disappeared.
"To find out both immediate and remote causes of cases of missing persons and to prepare and submit a written report including findings and recommendations to the Government of Kano State."
The Commission is also expected to hear from the victims or their relatives, collect evidence both written and oral, visits sites (as the case may be), find both immediate and remote causes of the kidnap case and make recommendations to the Government for proper action, in order to eradicate such wicked act.
The Solicitor-General of Kano State, Amina Yusuf Yar Gaya administered Oath to members of the Committee.
In his remarks during the occasion, the chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Adeolu Samuel Adeyemo, who is a member of the Commission of Inquiry wept as he condemned the act of kidnapping children disassociating Christians and CAN from such dastardly act.
According to him, "as I sit here today, I see the gravity of the sin committed by the perpetrators of this crime. I have seen the harm done to the parents because I am a parent.
"I was touched, very touched when we learnt about the rescue of these kidnapped children. It booked my heart and my heart is still broken. This is a crime against humanity which is condemned by God.
"In the Bible, it is not permitted to separate a child from the mother until the age of 13. This is evil punishable in the sight of God. Those people who committed this crime are not Christians and do not represent the tenets of Christianity.
"Kano is a mini Nigeria and we want to thank Governor Ganduje for making Kano a home for all. Nobody kidnaps for Christ. CAN condemn this act and Christians all over the world condemn it "
Also speaking, Eze Ndigbo in Kano, His Highness, Igwe Boniface Ibekwe described the issue as worrisome and condemnable.
Igwe Boniface noted that "whatever is bad is bad. This is not only a taboo, but it is also a criminal matter that must be tackled. The Igbo community in Kano has not experienced this kind of thing.
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