Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, monday signed into law a bill that prescribes death penalty for convicted kidnappers in the state.
The anti-kidnapping bill was one of 10 bills the governor signed into law at the state Executive Chambers witnessed by the Speaker and members of the state House of Assembly, the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Ntufam John Okon and the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Tina Agbor and permanent secretaries.
The law also empowers the state to seize assets as well as freeze accounts belong to convicted kidnappers and those who aid and abet kidnapping in the state.
Speaking on another bill he had just signed into law, the Social Housing Law, which makes housing for the vulnerable a right, he described the law as holding emotional significance to him.
“The most emotional bill to me is the Social Housing Law which seeks to provide housing for the poorest of the poor in the state.
Various researches have linked corruption in civil service to housing. It has also been proven that given the salaries of average civil servants, if they don’t originate memos that give them extra money, if they don’t comprise, they is no civil servant in Nigeria that will be able to build a house. So by virtue of our salary structure, you have already created a catalyst for corruption to thrive.
“By this bill, housing in Cross River State is now a right to the citizenry, it may not be justiciable at this point in time but we have created a legal stimulus to drive the structure that we can achieve housing for everybody, and in the process, stamp out all mud and thatch houses in Cross River State.”