Bashir Ahmad, who previously served as a media assistant to former President Muhammadu Buhari, has argued that kidnapping warrants the death penalty rather than life imprisonment. He stated that life sentences are insufficient for such severe offenses.
Ahmad shared these comments on X following a decision by the Federal High Court in Abuja, which sentenced three individuals to life in prison for the abduction of students and teachers in the Oriire region of Oyo State. The judge, Justice Salim Ibrahim, confirmed that the sentences for Abdulrazak Umar, Yunusa Musa, and Shamsu Adamu Sani will be calculated from the day of their initial detention.
Before the ruling, defense lawyers requested a more lenient sentence, highlighting that the defendants were first-time offenders who had entered guilty pleas. Despite these arguments, Ahmad insisted that the severity of kidnapping necessitates capital punishment.
