Senate Majority Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba

By Dele Ogbodo

Senate Majority Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, Wednesday brought before plenary the second reading of the bill which seeks to a life jail term for anybody found guilty of any act of terrorism.

He accordingly canvassed for making provisions for extra territorial application of the Act and to strengthen the section on terrorism financing offences.

Ndoma-Egba,  who led the debate on the bill to amend the Terrorism Act of 2011, said: “We are all aware of the intensity with which all manner of terrorist acts are disrupting the life of this country.”

“The bombings across the country which have left several people dead and property worth billions of naira destroyed,” he said.

Expressing serious concern on the implications of terrorism in the country, the senator stressed that terrorism is fast taking root across the country, adding that it is the duty of lawmakers to work out ways to properly tackle the problem by way of amendments to the principal Act as provided in the bill.

According to him, the bill seeks to empower the government to trace and punish any person who commits act of terrorism in or outside the country, adding that it also seeks to provide stiffer punishment for terrorism sponsors.

He said the principal Act needed to reflect that “whether a person knowingly in or outside Nigeria directly or indirectly commits acts of terrorism as referred to in this Act is liable on conviction to life imprisonment.