Corruption Should Attract Death Penalty' – Lawyer

A Rivers-based lawyer, Abdulkareem Dauda, has said that convicted corrupt government officials and others deserve death penalty.

Dauda expressed his point of views in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday, October 27, in Abuja.

According to the lawyer, death sentence for those found guilty of corruption is justifiable and desirable, considering the fact that corruption destroys every sector of the society.

“If an armed robber who kills one or two persons or robbed at gunpoint gets a death sentence, what of a corrupt government official whose action destroys many lives?” he wondered.

Dauda stressed that corruption was a more dangerous offence than armed robbery and should attract stiffer punishment.

“In my opinion, corruption should attract death penalty. People who are saying that corruption should attract death penalty are justified when you look at the many consequences of corruption on the society.

“When armed robbers attack, they rob an individual or a few people of their valuables and may kill in the process and the offence attracts death sentence.

“However, corruption kills several people, destroys the economy of a nation, health and social systems and affects several people’s lives, exposing them to various kinds of diseases and even death,’’ he said.

Commending Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign, the lawyer described the president as “a man of integrity and the proper person that can rescue Nigeria from the syndrome of corruption.’’

Dauda urged the federal government to extend the war against corruption to the judiciary and law enforcement agencies too.

“I strongly believe that before the anti-corruption crusade can succeed; the president has a lot to do in terms of cleansing the enforcement agencies, especially the police, EFCC, ICPC and the judiciary.

“We have seen corruption cases where suspects are charged to court but because the police may have been compromised and cannot conduct investigation properly, the judge cannot convict the accused,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has stated no country can survive with the level of corruption Nigeria has experienced.

“If public officers steal and take bribe, it is undermining the country and we intend to challenge the trend because it is not tolerable,” he stressed.

See what Nigerians think about the introduction of death penalty for corrupt officials.