The Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, has said that kidnappers deserved death penalty as punishment in order to deter people from the crime.
He also blamed corruption for the high rate of kidnapping across the country
The governor stated this in Abakaliki during an anti-corruption summit organised by the state government with the theme ‘Institutionalisation of Good Governance for Sustainable Development’
He said: “What these people do is worse than death, imagine kidnapping someone, blindfolding and chaining the person in one place for six months or more than that, it is worse than death and people who indulge in such deserve to be publicly executed to serve as deterrent to others.”
Earlier on, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Ekpo Nta, noted that good governance cannot be achieved in an atmosphere of systemic corruption, non-existence or weak regulatory systems, inefficient and corrupt officials and poorly executed physical infrastructure.
He said that prevention of corruption from being committed holds the key to good governance arising from sound fiscal management and efficient/effective government operation, which translate to good life for all citizens.
The ICPC boss said: “Corruption thrives where all these processes are prevalent and corrupt persons seize these opportunities.
“ICPC relies heavily on promoting anti-corruption through robust prevention strategies.
“The United Nations Convention Against Corruption, UNAC strongly recommends that most of our strategies be channelled into prevention processes. This is the practice adopted by countries that have successfully reduced corrupt processes.”
The summit was organised in conjunction with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN) and the Foundation for Transparency and Accountability (FTA).
