UNDERSTUDYING THE TERRORISM (PREVENTION AND PROHIBITION) ACT, 2022 TOWARDS A REFORM FOR PLATEAU STATE COUNTER TERRORISM LEGISLATION

Abstract

The war against terrorism must be deliberate, total and comprehensive the world over. While the countries of the world make efforts to ensure the safety of their territories and the protection of the lives and properties of their citizens, states or federating units within countries must be deliberate to replicating and complimenting the efforts of the centre. In Nigeria, Terrorism is not specifically mentioned as an item under any of the Legislative Lists, hence, a subject matter of consideration for both states and Federal Governments as this subject fall under the Security and protection of citizens and their properties. Another phrase that interchangeably gets used to indicate efforts in combating terrorism or acts of terror is “Counter Terrorism”. Counter-terrorism1, is a ‘measures designed to combat or prevent terrorism or ‘actions by a group, army, etc., that are done to prevent terrorist attacks and destroy terrorist networks. According to Stepanova, counter-terrorism is ‘a security task performed by a security component of a national or international authority2.’ Plateau State is one of the states in Nigeria that have domesticated the terrorism prevention legislation in order to curb the menace of this ill. This work targets a study of the National legislation in order to make recommendations for a reform in Plateau State.