Nigerian Senate on Thursday voted to approve the death penalty for dealers and importers of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin in the country.
The proposed amendment to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act would apply the capital punishment to the manufacturing, trafficking, dealing in or delivery of hard drugs by any means.
Currently, the maximum punishment under the existing law is life imprisonment. However, during the consideration of the bill, Senate Whip Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South) recommended that the punishment be "toughened" to a death sentence.
"This (life imprisonment) should be changed to a death sentence. This is the standard worldwide. We have to do this to address this problem of drugs that has seriously affected our youths," Ndume argued.
Not all senators were in favor of the proposal. Former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole voiced his reservations, stating that matters of life and death should be handled with utmost care and accountability. He called for a division of the Senate to record the votes.
However, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who presided over the plenary, ruled that Oshiomhole should have called for the division immediately after the initial vote, rather than waiting until the Senate had moved on to another clause.
Despite the objections, the Senate went ahead and passed the bill, approving the death penalty for drug offenses.
The report on the bill was jointly produced by the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, and Drugs and Narcotics. The Chairman of the Joint Committee, Mohammed Monguno, stated that the decision of the presiding officer would stand as the position of the Senate.
The move has sparked debate and controversy, with critics arguing that the death penalty is a harsh and inhumane punishment that may not effectively address the complex issue of drug abuse and trafficking.