The punishment for anyone found guilty on the offence of kidnapping has been raised from 10 years to life imprisonment by the Senate on Tuesday.

The upper chamber also deleted the statute of limitation on defilement and removed gender restrictions on the offences of rape.

These resolutions of the Senate came following the third reading and passage of “A bill for an Act to amend the Criminal Code Act CAP. C.38, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004.”

WASSCE: Order Partial Schools Reopening, Reps To Buhari

The Bill sponsored by Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central), seeks to delete the statute of limitation on defilement, increase punishment for the offence of kidnapping, and remove gender restrictions in the offence of rape and other related matters.

The Bill also canceled the present time frame for reporting and prosecuting defilement cases in the country.

It also removed gender restrictions on the offence of rape by explaining that both male and female could be raped.

Defilement cases can be actionable at any time, if the bill becomes law.