- Safiu Kehinde
Nollywood actor, Williams Uchemba, has called for the public execution of apprehended kidnappers as entrenched in the Nigerian constitution.
In what he claimed to have been a topical issue troubling him over time, the actor expressed his dissatisfaction with the spate of kidnapping and government’s reluctance to execute them when apprehended.
“Honestly, one of the things I said to myself is that I’m going to reduce the amount of complaints and decadence I see in this country and focus on the positive parts, doing the little I can in helping people.
“But I think there is a level you get to that you can’t no longer keep quiet.
“For this particular topic I’m about to address, it has been disturbing me so much that I can’t sleep. I wake up, it is my mind. I go for shower and it was just there in the shower.
“And if I don’t get this out, the way I’m feeling is like I’m committing a capital sin.
“We have a constitution to govern this country and I don’t see why when it is time to execute that constitution, we are not as vocal as we should be.
“The Bible says who builds a house without first counting the cost? This might come in a positive line. But also, anybody who commits a crime has already made up his mind that if this thing cast, this will be my fate.
“So, I don’t see why the capital punishment for kidnapping is death and some of these kidnappers are caught and I will give credit to the Nigerian Police and the soldiers.
“I have information that some of them get caught but we don’t hear anything, whether they have been in prison or executed.”
“I think that the this thing make round in social media when caught, should make round.” Uchemba made the call in a post shared on his Instagram handle on Friday.
He further harped on the need to dedicate a broadcast station that covers when apprehended kidnappers are publicly executed.
This, according to him, will serve as deterrent to others and bring about reduction in the rate of kidnapping in Nigeria.
The actor held that Nigeria can only become a saner clime like China if the government is ready to emulate the Chinese strict compliance with it’s constitutional provisions for capital punishment.
“And if you ask me, there should be a dedicated channel, just like Big Brother Nigeria, that is dedicated to catching some of these people and show that they are publicly executed.
“Children can go to bed. Put parental control on it. Because until we start executing consequences to certain actions, we cannot see the results.
“The kidnapping has gone high. The reason is not because the Police are not doing their work. It’s because the ones that are seeing what is going on and how these kidnappers are buying things for themselves and living life feels it’s a lucrative business because that one that entered inside prison is out in a couple of months. So I can go into it.
“If they can show their colleagues being executed, watch how this thing will drop.
“We want to copy China but we don’t have the balls that China has. The punishment for kidnapping in China is death.
“You think they don’t have people with animalistic behaviour? It is the consequences of every action that puts a society in check.” He said.
Uchemba called for the removal of religious sentiments and non-involvement of human rights group in addressing kidnapping cases in Nigeria.
He defended his call for public execution with the ordeal and life-long trauma kidnapped victims faced if fortunate to make it out of their abductors’ den alive.
The permanent trauma faced by the victims, according to Uchemba, is also equivalent to being dead.
“This has nothing to do with church. There is a place for morality, there is a place for people to change and give their lives to Christ. This is not part of those places because our job should be to uphold the constitution even in the midst of the 12 disciples, there was criminal and the law caught up with him.
“I am begging, and if it is possible, this has nothing to do with human rights. Stay clear human rights. Anytime you kidnap somebody, do you know you have actually kpaied the person?
“You’ve killed the person, even though the person is still alive. That is why it is not the same penalty and weight that stealing carries with kidnapping. Because stealing, you take somebody’s property in the person’s absence. No life was hurt, no life was threatened. You can five years. There is a punishment for that.
“But when it is armed robbery or kidnapping, it is heavier because human lives are involved.
“I have not seen one person that was kidnapped and came back, recovered, and became the same. Go and ask.” He said.
Uchemba cited the case of kidnapped Edo lady, Aisha Wahab, whose viral video had raised concern as the kidnappers threatened to kill her on Wednesday if the requested ransom is not paid.
“The trauma stays with them till their last breathe. Look at the picture of this girl has been in my head for days. You can sense fear. I watched that video, I weep because that could be anybody.
“That could be my sister, that could be my child. And it’s even a girl that does not have anything. The parent does not have any money. Look at the fear on that girl’s face.
“If by the grace of God that girl is released, you think she will be the same? She is traumatized for life.
“And these people that are caught should not be let go scot-free. What are we doing?
“It is not my want. It is the constitution. The penalty for kidnapping in this country, the constitution says it is execution. Why are we not seeing it on TV? Why have we not heard or seen it on the blog?
“Until we begin to uphold this constitution, we will not see the change because nobody is safe. And this is like affecting almost the poor people. Have you noticed that those that have been kidnapped on heavier capacity are people that don’t even have the money?
“Until this is address, we are not serious. It is content. We need to take the constitution serious.” Uchemba added.