Senate Approves Death Penalty for Drug Producers, Signaling Doom for Offenders

Concerned about the alarming spread of drug abuse in Nigeria, the Senate made a decision on Thursday to increase the maximum penalty for drug offenses from life imprisonment to the death penalty.

This decision was reached during the consideration of the "National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act (Amendment Bill) 2024," which ultimately passed a third reading in the Senate.

The bill's purpose was to revise penalty provisions, update the list of dangerous drugs, enhance the operations of the NDLEA, and authorize the NDLEA to establish laboratories.

The current Act's Section 11, which states that anyone who unlawfully imports, manufactures, produces, processes, plants, or grows drugs such as cocaine, LSD, heroin, or similar substances is guilty of an offense and subject to life imprisonment, was amended to impose a more severe penalty of death.

The bill was passed after considering the report of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters, presented by Senator Tahir Mongonu. Despite the report not recommending the death penalty, Senator Ali Ndume proposed replacing the life sentence with the death penalty.

The Deputy Senate President put the amendment to a voice vote, with the "ayes" winning, although Senator Adams Oshiomhole objected that the "nays" had it.

He argued that matters of life and death should not be rushed, but it was deemed too late to raise a point of division.

Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Tahir Monguno, clarified that the committee's report recommended life imprisonment for Section 11, but the Senate amended it to death sentence.