Odita Sunday 
Rabe’s Killing Shows Terrorists Understand Only Force, HURIWA Urges Death Penalty for Terrorism
By Odita Sunday
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has declared that the killing of retired Major-General Abubakar Rabe by terrorists should mark a decisive turning point in Nigeria’s counter-terrorism strategy, calling on the National Assembly to make terrorism and related offences punishable by death.
In a strongly worded statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, HURIWA said the murder of the retired military officer while in captivity demonstrated that terrorist groups operating in the country “understand only force” and warned that continued leniency would embolden further attacks.
The rights group, while commending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for rejecting demands by the abductors to release detained associates, argued that government responses must move beyond public declarations to sustained action against terrorism, banditry and kidnapping.
According to HURIWA, the killing of Major-General Abubakar Rabe represents more than an attack on an individual, describing it as a direct challenge to the authority and sovereignty of the Nigerian State.
The group noted that if a retired senior military officer could be abducted and killed with such audacity, ordinary Nigerians remained increasingly exposed to insecurity across the country.
HURIWA further linked the incident to reports from Zamfara State where armed bandits allegedly attacked farmlands in Goron Namaye, Maradun Local Government Area, killing 17 farmers and injuring at least 13 others.
It said the attacks reflected what it described as a continuing cycle of violence marked by mass killings, kidnappings, village invasions, school attacks, destruction of livelihoods and displacement of communities.
The association argued that weaknesses in law enforcement and delays in the criminal justice process had contributed to a growing perception among criminal groups that consequences for terrorism-related crimes remain inadequate.
Consequently, HURIWA called on the National Assembly to urgently amend the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act to classify terrorism, mass kidnapping, terrorist financing, insurgency and mass murder of civilians as capital offences punishable by death upon conviction.
The organisation also advocated the establishment of special terrorism courts with accelerated hearing procedures and time-bound appeals to ensure speedy dispensation of justice.
In addition, HURIWA urged a review of the current unofficial moratorium on the implementation of death sentences, insisting that individuals convicted of mass killings and attacks against civilians should face the maximum punishment allowed by law after exhausting constitutional judicial processes.
The group maintained that Nigeria was confronting forces determined to undermine national security and economic stability and stressed that symbolic rhetoric and periodic condemnations would not be sufficient.
It called on the Federal Government to launch what it described as a sustained, intelligence-driven military campaign to dismantle terrorist and bandit networks nationwide.
HURIWA said the death of Major-General Abubakar Rabe and the reported massacre of farmers in Zamfara must become a defining moment in the country’s security response.
“History will not judge the government by the strength of its statements but by the effectiveness of its actions. The time for extraordinary measures is now,” the statement signed by Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, National Coordinator, HURIWA, concluded.
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