By Brigadier General Biodun Bashir Adewinmbi (Rtd.)*
I wish to respectfully call the attention of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives, to a matter of urgent national importance bordering on the implementation of death sentences duly pronounced by competent courts and endorsed by various State Governors across the country.
Over the years, several criminal cases involving kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, armed robbery and other heinous offences have been thoroughly investigated by security agencies, prosecuted before courts of competent jurisdiction and concluded with death sentences in accordance with the laws of the land. In many instances, the Governors of the affected states have duly signed the death warrants as required by law.
However, Nigerians are entitled to know what has been responsible for the continued non-execution of these lawful judgments. It has become imperative for the National Assembly, as the highest legislative institution and custodian of the nation's laws, to investigate and probe the factors, interests or institutions responsible for hindering the implementation of such sentences after due judicial processes have been exhausted and justice has been served.
The prevailing wave of insecurity, manifesting in kidnapping, banditry, terrorism and violent crimes, demands decisive and practical actions rather than endless rhetoric. Those who profit from criminal enterprises must be made to understand that crime does not pay and that the full weight of the law will be brought upon them.
I therefore urge the Distinguished Senators and Honourable Members of the House of Representatives to move beyond mere speeches and initiate concrete legislative and oversight actions aimed at uncovering the reasons behind the delay or outright refusal to implement legally sanctioned death sentences.
The National Assembly should, as a matter of national urgency:
1. Conduct a comprehensive investigation into the status of death warrants signed by State Governors across the Federation.
2. Identify legal, administrative or institutional bottlenecks preventing their implementation.
3. Recommend necessary reforms and ensure strict compliance with extant laws.
4. Strengthen measures that will serve as deterrence against kidnapping, banditry, terrorism and other violent crimes threatening the peace and stability of Nigeria.
No society can effectively combat insecurity when criminals are confident that the consequences prescribed by law will never be enforced. The time has come for action. Nigerians deserve a country where justice is not only pronounced but seen to be carried out.
I therefore call on the National Assembly to rise to this historic responsibility and demonstrate to Nigerians that the rule of law remains supreme and that those who have chosen the path of violent criminality will face the consequences provided by law.
*Brigadier General Biodun Bashir Adewinmbi (Rtd.)*
Concerned Patriot and Advocate for National Security
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