First Lady Remi Tinubu has condemned the wave of kidnappings in the country, calling for the death penalty for any apprehended kidnappers.

Mrs Tinubu made this call on Friday while speaking with journalists, a day after armed bandits abducted over 250 schoolchildren in Kaduna State.

“Whoever is kidnapping young people is sick, cruel and a coward. Enough is enough,” Mrs Tinubu said. “I call on state governors that once we take hold of them (kidnappers), it is a capital punishment.”

“They (kidnappers) are animals. They are evil. And then we should take them out of our midst. The state governor and the lawmakers should do something,” Mrs Tinubu stressed. 

Mrs Tinubu, a former senator, asked, “Why don’t they (kidnappers) take people their size? Why are they torturing our children? What they are doing is trying to kill our future. Why would you go and take them from school? 

“As a former lawmaker, I believe that any of them captured; that a capital punishment,” she said.

On Thursday, armed bandits raided a school in Kuriga town, Chikun Local Government in Kaduna, kidnapping over 250 students. This came a few days after Boko Haram insurgents raided an IDPs camp in Gambarou Ngala, Borno State, and abducted more than 100 individuals. 

President Bola Tinubu on Friday condemned the wave of abductions, charging security agencies to rescue abducted citizens.

“I have received briefings from security chiefs on the two incidents in Borno and Kaduna, and I am confident that the victims will be rescued,” Mr Tinubu said in a tweet on Friday.