18th January, 2016
Femi Adi/Kaduna
House of Representatives member Representing Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency in Kaduna State, Umar Yakubu Barde on Monday recommended amputation of hands and death by hanging for leaders found guilty of corruption.
According to him, if someone steals from one million to 100 million naira, his hand should cut off. And those that steal from billions upward should be hanged and their property seized.
Speaking during an interactive forum with Kaduna media Correspondents , Barde who made the recommendation said he is a believer in the fact that people should be punished for whatever offence they commit.
He also suggested that punishment should be segregated according to the offence, which is commensurate with what was done.
“We are living in a very funny country where people steal N1,000 and they are put in jail for years. And some people will steal billions and use that same billions to escape justice. That is not good enough.
“For me personally, let me let the cat out of the bag, me and some members in the National Assembly are of the belief that we should have special courts for corruption cases,” he stated.
Barde, who expressed dismay over the large scale corruption in the country said “We are just talking about Dasukigate and look at the quantum of money and the number of people that are involved. ”
While pointing out that people will want to use the legal system to delay justice, he recommended a special court dedicated courts to handle all corruption cases, so that justice could be dispensed quickly.
While condemning a situation where some former governors who have cases with EFCC and have not gone to court for the past eight years, he noted that this does not encourage the young people, but rather encourages them to steal, adding “If you can delay justice for 10 years, it means that is a good one. So, I think we need to put our heads together because corruption like hunger does not know party, it does not know tribe or religion. We must as Nigerians take a very bold stand.
“You can imagine this issue of arms deal. If you knew this money was meant for the procurement of arms, weapons, my brothers and sisters here, if you have a brother in the Army, he is sent to the war front and because his weapons are archaic and he is killed, do you now want to have sympathy for someone who knows that the money was meant for arms and he pocketed it? It is so painful, we have lost loved ones.
“If I am a judge and such a person is brought before me, I will seized his property and make sure he is killed also. Because, he bears fault in the blood of the people killed in the war front.”