Anti-terrorism bill approved

2005-09-01 12:52

Abuja - Nigeria's cabinet approved a draft anti-terrorism law and sent it to the National Assembly on Wednesday, information minister Frank Nweke said, unveiling a bill which will make it easier for the government to ban radical organisations and arrest their members.

Under the new law anyone convicted of a terrorist offence can be sentenced to up to 35 years in jail, according to a partial copy of the draft provided to reporters.

In addition, the director general of the state security service - Nigeria's feared secret police - would be able to ask a federal judge to ban an organisation if two or more people are deemed to have come together to commit, prepare or promote acts of terrorism.

Nigeria has never been a victim of international terrorism but a number of home-grown militant groups have been involved in the ethnic, political and sectarian violence which has left 20 000 people dead in the six years since the West African giant returned to civilian rule.

Defining terrorism

The bill defines terrorism as any action that may seriously damage a country or an international organisation, unduly compel a government or an international organisation to perform or abstain from performing an action or seriously intimidate or destabilise a population.

This could include the use for terrorist ends of propaganda, violence, kidnapping, attacks on infrastructure or oil rigs, the hijacking of vehicles, the acquisition or development of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, the release of dangerous substances or arson.

The bill specifically excludes from the definition of terrorism the disruption by protesters of private or government business.

Membership of a banned organisation would carry lighter jail sentences, which could be replaced by a fine of up to 50 000 naira ($380), the bill says.

Banning order to be published

An order banning a group would be published in the government gazette and two national newspapers and thereupon anyone alleged to belong to the proscribed group could be charged with a criminal offence.

There are several regional separatist groups operating in Nigeria - such as the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (Massob) and the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) - whose members are sometimes harassed by the authorities but whose leaders live openly.

In February 2003, Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi leader of the militant Islamist network al-Qaeda, called for an Islamic revolution in Nigeria, saying: "Among regions ready for liberation are Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, the country of the two shrines (Saudi Arabia), Yemen and Pakistan."

Of the countries listed, only Nigeria has yet to witness an Islamist attack, although a hard line group modelled on the Afghan Taliban did lead a brief separatist rebellion in 2003 and the US embassy has issued a number of terror alerts.

- AFP