Politics
…urges National Assembly to make terrorism punishable by death
THE Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) is deeply outraged by the cold-blooded murder of retired Major-General Abubakar Rabe by terrorists who held him captive and demanded the release of their associates in government custody.
While we commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for publicly rejecting the terrorists’ demand and vowing never to release their detained accomplices, HURIWA insists that the time has come for the Federal Government to move beyond declarations and launch an uncompromising national offensive against terrorism, banditry and kidnapping.
The gruesome killing of a retired Major-General of the Nigerian Army is not merely an attack on an individual. It is a direct assault on the authority, sovereignty and integrity of the Nigerian State. If terrorists can abduct and kill a retired General with such audacity, then ordinary citizens are even more vulnerable to the daily reign of terror unleashed by these enemies of humanity.
The murder of General Rabe is yet another painful reminder that terrorists do not seek peace, dialogue or reconciliation. They seek fear. They seek bloodshed. They seek to undermine the authority of the Nigerian State. Every concession granted to them only emboldens them to commit even greater atrocities.
Barely hours after Nigerians received the shocking news of the General’s death, reports emerged from Zamfara State that armed bandits invaded farmlands in Goron Namaye, Maradun Local Government Area, where they reportedly slaughtered 17 farmers one after another and left at least 13 others with severe injuries.
These killings are not isolated incidents. They are part of a relentless campaign of mass murder that has consumed thousands of innocent lives across Nigeria. Virtually every week, Nigerians wake up to fresh reports of massacres, kidnappings, village invasions, attacks on schools, destruction of farmlands and the displacement of entire communities.
For too long, terrorists and bandits have operated with frightening confidence, exploiting weaknesses in law enforcement and benefiting from a criminal justice system that often fails to deliver swift and effective punishment. The result is the growing perception among these criminal elements that the Nigerian State lacks the resolve to impose consequences proportionate to their crimes.
HURIWA therefore calls on the National Assembly to immediately amend the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act and designate terrorism, mass kidnapping, terrorist financing, insurgency and acts of mass murder against civilians as capital offences punishable by death upon conviction.
We further demand the establishment of special terrorism courts with accelerated hearing procedures and time-bound appeals to prevent convicted terrorists from exploiting endless legal delays while their victims and their families continue to suffer.
The current unofficial moratorium on the implementation of death sentences should also be reviewed in the national interest. Those who deliberately massacre innocent citizens, attack schools, abduct children, burn villages and wage war against the Nigerian people should face the maximum punishment provided by law after exhausting all constitutional judicial processes.
Nigeria is effectively at war with forces determined to destroy lives, cripple economic activities and undermine national security. This war cannot be won through half-measures, symbolic rhetoric or periodic condemnations after each massacre.
The Federal Government must order a sustained, intelligence-driven military campaign to hunt down, neutralize and dismantle every terrorist and bandit enclave across the country. There must be no safe haven, no sanctuary and no breathing space for those who profit from bloodshed.
The death of Major-General Abubakar Rabe and the massacre of 17 farmers in Zamfara must mark a turning point in Nigeria’s counter-terrorism strategy. If the nation fails to respond decisively now, more communities will fall, more families will mourn, and more innocent Nigerians will become victims of a crisis that has already lasted far too long.
History will not judge the government by the strength of its statements but by the effectiveness of its actions. The time for extraordinary measures is now.
Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, National Coordinator, HURIWA
June 14, 2026
Tags: HURIWA President Bola Ahmed Tinubu retired Major-General Abubakar Rabe