Osun Monarch Advocates Death Penalty For Kidnappers
The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, Thursday, urged the Osun State government to enact a law that will make kidnapping an offence punishable by death.
The royal father stated this when he led other royal fathers in Iwoland to felicitate with Governor Adegboyega Oyetola in his office on his recent victory at the Supreme Court, which reaffirmed his election.
He said: “Fulani people have been living with us for over 400 years. I visited the nomadic settlement in my area. The schools there were empty. Many of those children are not equipped for the future and they may not be interested in the cattle rearing any more.
“Many of those children are today engaging in kidnapping now. Many armed men of Fulani ethnic stock are joining forces with those Fulani that have been living around us for a long time. We must encourage them to go to school. Education remains permanent solution to the crises.
“But if government can impose harsh punishment, like death penalty, it will discourage people from engaging in kidnapping.”
He said it was impossible to ask Fulani herders to vacate Yorubaland, saying as Nigerians they have right to reside in any part of the country.
Responding, Governor Oyetola commended the royal fathers for coming up with suggestions that could assist his administration to raise revenue, saying the state’s lawmakers had commenced work on a bill that would impose life sentence for kidnapping.
