Sheikh AbdulRauf Lagbaji, an Ondo State cleric and founder of the At-Tanzil Foundation, has asked Nigerian lawyers to stay out of the courtroom when the accused are bandits or kidnappers. Such criminals, he said, deserve no sympathy.
He spoke in Akure on Friday, in a lecture at the Ashura Day celebration organised by the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria, Ondo State chapter. The theme was “Ashura: Navigating Peaceful Pathways Amidst Hostilities: What Are the Practical Relevance in Contemporary Nigeria”.
A call to change the Constitution
Lagbaji also wants the Constitution reviewed so that anyone found guilty of banditry, kidnapping or similar violent crimes faces immediate execution. Governments at all levels, he said, must stop being lenient with convicted criminals. Reintegrating them into society could worsen insecurity across the country, he warned.
He singled out the perpetrators of the Owo Church massacre as people the state should not hesitate to put to death.
The religious argument
“It is time for our government to execute any bandit or kidnapper found guilty because the Qur’an makes it clear that whoever knowingly kills another person should also be put to death,” he said.
He then turned to Diya, the Islamic blood money paid for a person killed. It is equivalent to 100 camels, he said, which comes to about N200 million per person. “Therefore, our religion does not permit the pampering of anyone who kills.”
