By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja

KOGI State House of Assembly has called on Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo to beef up security around all the Tertiary Educational Institutions in the state to curtail further abduction of students from campuses by hoodlums.

The call was contained in a resolution of the House following adoption of a Motion Of Urgent Public Importance moved by Hon. Asema Baba Haruna (APC-Adavi) at plenary in Lokoja

Haruna who is also the Chief Whip of the House, while presenting the motion condemned the recent abduction of 24 students from the state-owned Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara.

The legislator sympathized with families of the kidnapped students on the sad incident saying, “It is high time we beefed up security around our schools to avert a repetition of what happened in Osara.

“The government should as a matter of urgency construct perimeter fencing in all our Schools to stop this hoodlums from kidnapping our Students.

“The Governor should also motivate our security agencies for their good work in combating insecurities in our dare State.” he urged.

Supporting the motion, Hon. Idowu Ibikunle (ADC-Yagba-West) who is also the Minority Leader of the House said though about 20 out of the 24 kidnapped students had been rescued, the condition tion of the rest could only be imagined.

He hinted that a business tycoon recently Kidnapped in his constituency had not been released.

“We are appealing to the Kogi state Government to make a stiffer law against kidnapping. By doing this, whoever that is caught in kidnapping will dance to the music”

Also supporting the motion, many of the legislators were unanimous in their call on security agencies to change their surveillance and operational strategies in tackling insecurity in Kogi State.

In his ruling, Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Aliyu Umar Yusuf (APC-Lokoja II) said Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo had shown much commitment and seriousness in tackling insecurity and making the state one of the safest in the Country.

“We want all the kidnappers to be apprehended and made to face the full wrath of the law. Kogi State can never be a breeding place for this criminal elements who are enemies of the State”, he added.

The speaker also urged the State Government to support the creation of State Police in a bid to address the spate of insecurity in the Country.

The motion was adopted by overwhelming voice votes in its favour. (Ends)

**15years for consumers of hard drugs

The Senate on Thursday passed a bill which upgraded the maximum sentence of life imprisonment to the death penalty amidst controversy over the voice votes.
The legislation titled the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act (Amendment Bill) 2024 had passed a third reading at the Senate on Thursday.
The Bill sought to review penalties provision, update the list of dangerous drugs, strengthen the operations of the NDLEA, and empower the NDLEA to establish laboratories.
Section 11 of the current act which prescribes that any person who, without lawful authority; Imports, manufactures, produces, processes, plants or grows the drugs popularly known as cocaine, LSD, heroin or any other similar drugs shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to be sentenced to imprisonment for life was amended to reflect a stiffer death penalty.
The bill was passed after the Senate considered the Report of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters presented by Mongonu Tahir, the Senator representing Borno North.
Though the report did not recommend death penalty, Ali Ndume, the Senate Chief Whip, however, moved that the death penalty be replaced with a life sentence.
During a clause-by-clause consideration of Bill, Barau Jibrin, the Deputy Senate President who presided over the session, put the amendment on the death penalty to a voice vote and declared that the “ayes” had it, but Adams Oshiomhole, Senator Representing Edo North objected that the “nays” had it rather.
He argued that matters of life and death should not be treated hurriedly, but Barau said it was too late, as he failed to raise a point of division soon enough.
The bill was subsequently passed.

Speaking to newsmen on the implication of the bill, chairman Senate committee on Human Rights and Legal Matters indicated that the import of the ammendment of the NDLEA act as passed by the Senate prescribed the punishment of death sentence for people who engage in the manufacturing, processing of hard drugs.
“But for the people that engage in the consuption of these hard drugs the sentence prescribed is 15years.
“I think the Senate in its wisdom decided to prescribe death sentence in view of the havoc being created by substance and drug abuse in this country which if not nipped in the bud have the potential of destroying the future of this country because it is the majority of the youth that are engaged in the drug and substance abuse, sometimes innocently as a result of peer group influence. he sentence is 15years without the option of fine.

The senate on Wednesday passed for second reading a Bill meant to document, protect domestic workers and their employers

This came after the general principles of the bill was presented by the sponsor Sen.Hussaini Babangida (PDP Jigawa) at plenary.
Titled, the bill for an act to provide for the documentation and protection of domestic workers and employees and for other matters there with Babangida in his presentation said the bill was read the first time on Nov 21, 2023.
“The intendment of the bill actually is to raise the issue of the employment, regulation and the management of domestic workers on one hand and on the other hand to deal with the matter of rights of also employers from domestic workers.
“So it is a two way bill that seeks to address the regulation and the operation in the informal sector of the economy.
“Let me just go back to history. In 1998 it was widely reported about a senior flight officer Hadiza Oboh of the Nigerian Airways at the age of 39 who was almost approaching the position of a captain, she was highly celebral. She was murdered by her employees and domestic workers as reported, till date the culprits have not been apprehended because record has it that they are workers from Togo/Benin Republic that she employed who killed her.
“There are a lot of cases of atrocities committed by our domestic workers.
On the part of the employers, there are reports of cases of employers maltreatment including harassment and sometimes killing of workers in their employ.
“Therefore the intendment of the bill is to bring the two sides together so that we can have a harmonized and regulated documented and properly articulated approach to Domestic employee/employer relationship. “It is also know that most of the people we employ we hardly ever know them
“You hire a gate man, you don’t know his history, you don’t know his genealogy, you don’t know his background and no any record of him so If there is any issue you will not be able to trace him. Cases of kidnapping, burglary, house theft rubbery are the result of internal collusion between the domestic staff and outsiders
According to him, over the years, there has been an increase in the incidents of assaults and abuse of domestic workers by their employers or hosts.
According to him, the abuses ranged from slave labour, physical abuse and sexual abuse among others.
He said some times ,the stories are gory, traumatic and mind-boggling, especially against the background that the domestic workers exist in the informal sector.

“They are unionists and they do not have a collective platform to speak for themselves and therefore remain ostensibly vulnerable and helpless.

“On the other side of the coin, is the rise in the state of complicity of crimes committed by domestic workers mostly in connivance with other criminal elements of society against their employers or host.

“These bother on burglary, kidnapping, stealing of children, and sometimes outright murder.”

He said due to urbanization, fast growing cities with chaotic traffic in Nigeria such as Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abuja, Kano and other cities have put significant pressure on working class parents of different categories of the society.

This, he said was compelling many of them to spend more time at work places and far less time at home.

“The concomitant effect of this is that many families, from the low, middle, to the high- income class families have come to the inevitable reality of the necessity of employing and relying on domestic workers to attend to their needs at home.

“It is saddening to note that a very vulnerable group of this category of domestic workers have been consistently played upon by their employers or hosts.

“These are mostly house maids, boys, wards and extended family members.

“A lot of these workers are unregistered and not supported by most national labour laws, They work for private households usually without clear terms of employment, particularly in our country.”

He said Nigeria was yet to have a codified legislation that provides for the right of domestic workers.
He said it was therefore imperative and critical for the 10th Senate to urgently assist the law enforcement agencies with potent legislative interventions by passing the bill.

“Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, in view of the enormous benefits of this bill which has been elaborately deliberated in this lead debate.

“All of you know one house girl, mechanic, one driver, somebody somewhere who needs our help in this chamber.

“I want to urge you to support the second reading of this bill, he said.

The bill, which received support of lawmakers was referred to Committee on Labour and Productivity for further legislative inputs by President of Senate, Godswill Akpabio after it scaled second reading.
The bill is to be brought back to plenary in four week