Bauchi state governor,Gov. Mohammed Abdullahi, has signed into law a bill that attracts a death sentence or life imprisonment for anyone that is found guilty of kidnapping in the state. The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ibrahim Umar, announced this at a press conference in the state Tuesday.

“Whoever is guilty of the offence of kidnapping shall be punished with life imprisonment. If the victim dies as a result of the kidnapping, the offender shall be punished with death" Umar said

The bill states that anyone who seizes, confines, tricks, abducts or carries away anybody and holds them to ransom or otherwise with or without a weapon, has committed act of kidnapping in the state and would be punished accordingly.

Umar said that the state government also signed into law a bill for the provision of free emergency treatment to accident victims within 24 hours of occurrence.

“The law stated that the state government shall provide funds and logistics for joint patrol of the hospital management board and Federal Road Safety Corps for rescuing accident victims in the three senatorial districts of the state. Any government hospital that fails to accept an accident victim shall have its officers on duty that day punished according to civil service rules, including reduction in rank,” he said