The Senate on Thursday approved death penalty for dealers and importers of cocaine, heroin and other hard drugs into the country.

The proposed capital punishment also applies to manufacturing, trafficking, dealing in or delivery of hard drugs by any means.

The Senate arrived at the resolution on the floor of the red chamber after deliberations on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

The maximum punishment in the extant law for offenders is life imprisonment.

During the consideration of the report on the bill for passage on Thursday, Senate Whip, Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South), recommended that the punishment of life imprisonment be “toughened” to death penalty.

The penalty for drug importation or dealership is captured in Section 11 of the extant law, which Ndume sought to be increased to a death sentence.

He said, “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.

“It should be toughened beyond life imprisonment. It should be the death sentence, either by hanging or any way.”

This proposal did not sit well with some of his colleagues, including former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, who took to the floor to voice out his reservations.

Oshiomhole told his colleagues that he would rarely joke with any matter concerning life and death.

“When a matter has to do with life and death, we should be accountable. Let’s divide the Senate. This is lawmaking. We are not here to take voice votes,” Oshiomhole said.

His position was overruled by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, who presided over the plenary.

Jibrin told Oshiomhole that he should have called for a division of the Senate immediately after the voting took place and before the Senate moved to another clause in the amendment bill.

“This is about procedure. You were supposed to call for a division; you didn’t do so. I am sorry, I can’t help you”, the DSP stood his ground and stuck with the decision of the Senate.

Similarly, Senator Sampson Ekong from Akwa Ibom State also kicked against the resolution of the Senate but he was overruled.

The Senate went ahead to pass the bill for a third reading.

The report on the bill was jointly produced by the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters/Drugs and Narcotics.

Speaking with Senate correspondents after the plenary, the Chairman of the Joint Committee, Mohammed Monguno, said the Senate approved the death sentence, noting that the voices of Oshiomhole and others did not change the ruling of the presiding officer.

“The ruling of the presiding officer is the position of the Senate,: he added

The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) has sealed Regency Hotels, a school and three business premises in the capital city for tax evasion.

The FCT-IRS acting Director, Legal Services, Mr Festus Tsavsar, who led the enforcement team, explained that the closure of the premises was in line with a Court Order obtained by the IRS.

The school and business premises are Gratias International School, Rural and Urban Homes Ltd, Trevari International Company and Phenomenon International Company.

Tsavsar explained that the hotel and businesses premises contravened FCT tax laws by refusing to file their annual returns, in spite of issuing several notices, including a court summons.

“Today we went out to execute the Court Orders, which ordered the FCT-IRS to seal off the premises of defaulting taxpayers that were brought before it.

“We have been able to effectively comply with the court order by sealing off the premises as directed.

“We went to Gratias International School located in Games Village, Kaura, and sealed it off.

“The offence they committed was refusal to file their annual returns in spite of many notices, including a Court Summon but the school management refused to comply.

“We are at their premises and the management refused to attend to us; and refused to open their doors, in spite of many calls for them to do so to enable us to enforce the court order,” he said.

He expressed concern over the continued refusal by the school’s management to comply with the tax law.

According to him, the action is simply tax evasion which is a criminal offence.

He added that to worsen the case, the management had changed their name to DGIS College to evade tax payment.

“This is also a criminal offence.

“The school has not been paying their taxes at all and also refused to file their annual returns since establishment,” he said.

From the school, the team proceeded to Residency Hotels, No. 4, Port Harcourt Crescent, Area II, Garki, where it was also sealed for not filing annual returns.

“From there we went to seal off Rural Urban Homes ltd in Utako and two business premises residing in Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, namely Trevari International Company and Phenomenon International Company,” Tsavsar said.

He warned the affected business owners against any attempt to unseal the premises and advised them to go to the court to obtain a court order before they could do so.

“If they go against the Court Order and unsealed the premises by themselves, they have committed a criminal offence, and the court will order their arrest.

“They will be prosecuted in line with the tax law, particularly Section 81 of Personal Income Tax Law and upon conviction they will be jailed for six months in addition to a fine,” he added.

Tsavsar equally warned that FCT-IRS would go after all tax defaulting companies and individuals, and advised taxpayers to comply with existing tax laws, pay their taxes and file their annual returns.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement that the Israeli forces will continue their attacks in Gaza in spite the U.S. threat to halt some weapon shipments.

“If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone,” said Netanyahu in a public speech made on Sunday’s Israeli Holocaust Memorial Day and posted on his official X account on Thursday.

The Israeli prime minister added that “no amount of pressure” will stop Israel from “defending itself.”

During a CNN interview earlier on Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said that he would halt some shipments of U.S. weapons to Israel if Netanyahu launches a major invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip where more than 1 million Palestinians are taking refuge.

“We’re not walking away from Israel’s security. We’re walking away from Israel’s ability to wage war in those areas,” said Biden.

The U.S. president admitted that Israel used U.S. bombs on civilians in Gaza. “Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” said Biden.

U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the U.S. had already paused “one shipment of high payload munitions” to Israel.

The United States has sent hundreds of shipments of weapons to Israel since the ongoing conflict broke up on Oct. 7, 2023, according to reports from U.S. news outlets.