The National Assembly with the aim of combating drug-related crimes has amended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act, by imposing life imprisonment for drug offenders and tr*ffickers.
This is coming after the Senate agreed with the recommendation of the House of Representatives to substitute de@th sentence penalty for persons found guilty of storing, moving or concealing hard drugs and other ill*cit substances with life imprisonment.
Bsgistnews.com recalls that the House of Representatives had passed an amendment to the NDLEA Act to prescribe life imprisonment for drug tr*ffickers however on the other hand, the Senate version of the same amendment prescribed death penalty for the drugs offenders.
Therefore, with the aim of resolving the differences, the Senate and the House of Representatives needed to hold a conference committee on the amendment wherein they can finalize on a final amendment of the section.
The National Assembly Stance;
With respect to that, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Tahir Monguno, told his colleagues that the Senate would accept the amendment by the House of Reps prescribing life imprisonment for drugs tr*ffickers over their initial decision of prescribing de@th penalty.
Monguno went on to explain at the conference that if the National Assembly adopted the de@th sentence, it meant that over 900 accused persons behind bar on drugs related cases would be executed.
Therefore, he beckoned on his colleagues to uphold the resolution for the purpose of mitigating the effect of drugs consumption and trading in the country.Â
Finally, after the presentation by the Chairman of the committee, the Deputy Senate President put the resolution up to a vote and majority of the senators supported it.
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