Bashir Ahmad, a former digital media aide to former President Muhammadu Buhari, has strongly advocated for the death penalty as the only fitting punishment for convicted kidnappers, arguing that life imprisonment is far too lenient.

Ahmad made the assertion via his official X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday. He was reacting to a recent judgment by the Federal High Court in Abuja, which sentenced three terrorists involved in the abduction of students and teachers in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State to life imprisonment.

THENEWSCREDIT reports that the convicts—Abdulrazak Umar (alias Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid), Yunusa Musa (alias Yunusa Bin Musa), and Shamsu Adamu Sani (alias Abu Itisar)—were sentenced by Justice Salim Ibrahim. The trial judge ruled that the jail terms would take effect from the specific dates of their arrests.

Prior to the final verdict, defense counsel had pleaded with the court for liberal sentencing. The lawyers urged the judge to temper justice with mercy, noting that the defendants were first-time offenders who had readily pleaded guilty to the charges.

However, reacting to the judicial outcome, Ahmad maintained that the severity of kidnapping warrants the ultimate punishment.

"Life imprisonment seems too lenient for the crime of kidnapping," the former presidential aide wrote. "In my view, the appropriate punishment for convicted kidnappers should be the death penalty."