The Ekiti State House of Assembly has passed a bill prescribing death penalty for anyone found guilty of engaging in cultism, while also revising upward the punishment for those aiding and abetting the practice.
The original bill, said to have been promulgated during the first term of Governor Ayodele Fayose, was amended from the previous seven-year imprisonment for convicted cultist to death penalty.
The punishment for people who aid or abet the crime also rose from five-year imprisonment to life imprisonment.
The assembly also passed the 2017 Revised Appropriation bill into law at a plenary on Tuesday in Ado Ekiti.
The Secret Cult (Abolition and Prohibition) [Amendment] Bill, 2017 was introduced by the House Leader of Business, Akinyele Olatunji, who called the notice of the assembly to the incessant killings of students by cultists at the higher institutions in the state, especially at the Ekiti State University in recent time.
He said Ekiti State was known for peace and “we will not allow any group to turn it to a slaughter slab.”
Olatunji expressed appreciation to “the peace-loving governor of Ekiti State (Ayodele Fayose), who has taken urgent steps to forward the bill to the House.”
The Speaker of the EKHA, Kola Oluwawole, said the lawmakers would not fold their arms while some people would be killing innocent people of the state.
“It is an everlasting sorrow for someone to lose his child or relative. The bill will reshape the lives of our youths. It will touch those who intend to join secret cults and those who have the intention to take another person’s life.
“Those people that we are representing will have peace of mind that their lives and those of their children are safe. The bill considers very seriously the negative consequences of such action because of the irreparable loss of lives.”
A lawmaker representing Efon, Afolabi Akanni, particularly, called the attention of members to the activities of “Yahoo and 419 guys,” who he said, wanted to turn Ekiti State to their hiding place.
The report of the House Finance and Appropriation Committee formed the basis for passing the 2017 Revised Appropriation Bill.
The revised estimate stood at N93.09bn as against the N94.4bn approved in the original budget of the year.
According to the lawmakers, the importance of the bill was to re-allocate funds to projects that were of paramount importance to the government and to accommodate other important projects that were hitherto not in the approved budget.
Others who spoke at the plenary included the Deputy Speaker, Olusegun Adewumi, Titilayo Akerele, Sina Animasaun, Dayo Akinleye, Cecilia Dada and Dr. Samuel Omotoso.
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The original bill, said to have been promulgated during the first term of Governor Ayodele Fayose, was amended from the previous seven-year imprisonment for convicted cultist to death penalty.
The punishment for people who aid or abet the crime also rose from five-year imprisonment to life imprisonment.
The assembly also passed the 2017 Revised Appropriation bill into law at a plenary on Tuesday in Ado Ekiti.
The Secret Cult (Abolition and Prohibition) [Amendment] Bill, 2017 was introduced by the House Leader of Business, Akinyele Olatunji, who called the notice of the assembly to the incessant killings of students by cultists at the higher institutions in the state, especially at the Ekiti State University in recent time.
He said Ekiti State was known for peace and “we will not allow any group to turn it to a slaughter slab.”
Olatunji expressed appreciation to “the peace-loving governor of Ekiti State (Ayodele Fayose), who has taken urgent steps to forward the bill to the House.”
The Speaker of the EKHA, Kola Oluwawole, said the lawmakers would not fold their arms while some people would be killing innocent people of the state.
“It is an everlasting sorrow for someone to lose his child or relative. The bill will reshape the lives of our youths. It will touch those who intend to join secret cults and those who have the intention to take another person’s life.
“Those people that we are representing will have peace of mind that their lives and those of their children are safe. The bill considers very seriously the negative consequences of such action because of the irreparable loss of lives.”
A lawmaker representing Efon, Afolabi Akanni, particularly, called the attention of members to the activities of “Yahoo and 419 guys,” who he said, wanted to turn Ekiti State to their hiding place.
The report of the House Finance and Appropriation Committee formed the basis for passing the 2017 Revised Appropriation Bill.
The revised estimate stood at N93.09bn as against the N94.4bn approved in the original budget of the year.
According to the lawmakers, the importance of the bill was to re-allocate funds to projects that were of paramount importance to the government and to accommodate other important projects that were hitherto not in the approved budget.
Others who spoke at the plenary included the Deputy Speaker, Olusegun Adewumi, Titilayo Akerele, Sina Animasaun, Dayo Akinleye, Cecilia Dada and Dr. Samuel Omotoso.
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