A former Attorney General (AG) of Edo State, Dr. Samson Osagie, on Sunday, underscored the need for defendants convicted under the anti-terrorism Act, to serve the full scale of sentence so as to deter others.
Osagie told the report that the Terrorism (Prohibition and Prevention) Act No.15 of 2022 was enacted to provide a regulatory framework for the detection, prevention, prosecution and punishment of acts of terrorism in Nigeria.
According to him, given the devastating impact of terrorism activities in the country, there has been public concerns about the possibility of convicted terrorists being granted amnesty on executive orders.
The former AG consequently, said there was the need for an amendment of the Act to ensure that convicted terrorists do not enjoy such clemency.
“Given the devastating impact of terrorism related activities across the country, public concerns about the fate of those arrested, prosecuted and convicted in connection with terrorism and terrorism financing activities have heightened
“It has become pertinent to recommend that the Terrorism (Prohibition and Prevention) Act 2022 be further amended to exclude persons convicted of terrorism or anti-terrorism offences from benefiting from presidential clemency or any legal mechanism that may enure in their favor during the pendency of their jail term,” he said
According to him, there is also the need to ensure that the provisions on the Prerogative of Mercy under section 175 of the constitution, be amended to exclude the exercise of that power in favour of persons convicted of terrorism or terrorism related offences.
“The justification for this recommendations stem from the need to tighten the booze around perpetrators of terrorism against the nation and its citizens.
“The National Assembly should therefore waste no time to carry out this legislative endeavor in this urgent task to fight terrorism and stamp same out of our body polity,” he said
On his part, a former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Young Lawyers Forum (NBA-YLF) Mr. Uwomano Aki described terrorism as a direct attack on the sovereignty, security and collective existence of the nation which ought to be tackled firmly.
“Terrorism is not an ordinary criminal offence; it is a direct attack on the sovereignty, security, and collective existence of the nation.
“Where a competent court, after a full and fair trial, has found an accused person guilty beyond reasonable doubt and determined that the individual poses a threat to national security, the suggestion that such a person should later benefit from executive clemency is, in most cases, difficult to justify,” he said
He, consequently, urged that while the constitution empowers the executive to exercise the prerogative of mercy, such power should be invoked with utmost restraint in terrorism cases.
In the same vein, a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Mrs Adaobi Fortune noted that any consideration of amnesty for convicted terrorists, must be carefully guided without sentiments and with overriding national interest in mind.
According to her, even where executive pardon becomes inevitable due to international conventions, same must be treated with caution.
“In all, the sovereignty of Nigeria and interests of its citizens should overirde every other consideration,” she said
Also speaking, President of the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) Mrs Amanda Demechi-Asagba noted that the law has strong safeguards against the release of terrorists who are sentenced to life imprisonment.
According to her, many Nigerians had questioned why such convicts were not sentenced to death with expression of fears that they could regain freedom someday.
She explained that under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, life imprisonment means the offender is expected to remain in prison for the rest of his or her life unless the sentence is changed through a successful appeal or the constitutional power of pardon.
“The law makes it possible for a life sentence to be changed, but in reality it is highly unlikely. There are legal procedures and checks that make the release of convicted terrorists very difficult,” she said.
According to her, the Nigerian Correctional Service Act also places strict limits on sentence remission for terrorism-related offences, making it difficult for such convicts to enjoy the sentence reductions available to other inmates.
She, consequently, called for stronger laws to further reassure Nigerians, recommending an amendment of the Act to require terrorism convicts to spend at least 30 years in prison before they can be considered for clemency.