The Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, has signed a bill into law that puts a death penalty on convicted kidnappers in the state.
Also signed into law at the Exco Chambers in Calabar, the state’s capital, on Tuesday, was the Social Housing Law, which makes housing for the vulnerable, a right.
The Governor had empowered the Kidnap Law to seize assets as well as freeze accounts belonging to convicted kidnappers and those who aid and abet kidnapping in the state.
Right To Housing
After signing the bills before the Speaker and members of the State House of Assembly, Governor Ayade spoke passionately on the danger awaiting anyone or group caught in the web of kidnapping. He said the state would no longer condone such criminality.
On the Social Housing Law, the Governor linked the high spate of corruption in the Civil Service to the inability of civil servants to provide housing for themselves with their meagre salaries.
“Various researches have proven that given the salaries of an average civil servant, if memos are not originated to get extra money, 80 per cent of civil servants will not be able to own their houses upon retirement,” the Governor explained.
Governor Ayade further added: “By the bill, housing in Cross River State is now a right to the citizenry and though it may not be justifiable at this point in time, but the government has created a legal stimulus to drive the structure that it can achieve housing for everybody. In the process, all mud and thatch houses in the State will be stamp out”.
