Recently, a news item appeared in the media that the Federal
Government and the Economics and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have jettisoned
the Plea Bargain system in the trial of alleged looters of the Nigerian
economy; Instead of plea bargain, a full prosecution will be applied and
maximum punishment will be sought.
This is a most welcomed news, and I am very glad that the
government had a rethink on this system of law that rather than punish a crime,
incentivizes it. The treatment of looters of the economy should be similar to
the treatment of kidnappers. There should be no negotiation, and no settlement.
People should be brought to book for these dastardly acts against the people of
Nigeria.
If you take what happened in the last administration, where
some guy walked away with a fine of seven hundred and fifty thousand naira
after being convicted of stealing 21billion naira of pensioners’ money, then
you would hate the plea bargain system, even though his was not entirely plea
bargain.
There should be no sympathy for looters, because their offenses
are against the people and the state. It should be classified as treasonable
felony, because depending on the magnitude of the offenses and the sensitivity
of the sector, they could have caused administration to fail, or to be removed.
Thus this news of full prosecution is most welcomed. They
should not only go to jail, but they should be stripped of all the wealth
looted, and all the attendant additions and gains that the stolen has given
them, including even their honorary doctorate degrees and bogus chieftaincy
titles.
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