The Senate on Thursday passed the Witness Protection Programme Bill, which was sponsored by Isiaka Adeleke, the Osun State lawmaker who passed on last month.

The bill is intended to protect whistle-blowers and witnesses who are directly involved in the prosecution of certain criminal cases.

This followed the adoption of a report presented by David Umaru, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Human Rights, Legal Matters and Judiciary.

After the bill scaled the second reading in October 2016, the senate had agreed to merge it with a similar bill seeking to protect persons making disclosures for public interest and other forms reappraisal, sponsored by Abiodun Olujimi, PDP-Ekiti.

Adeleke, while leading the debate when the bill was being considered for second reading last year, said there should be a legislation in place to protect witnesses in certain cases, such as terrorism.

The bill provides that in such cases, witnesses could be allowed to wear masks, bear pseudo names and receive protection from authorities.

In her argument, Olujimi said the bill would boost the anti-corruption and anti-terrorism campaign of the federal government, as citizens would be more willing to assist security agencies with vital information since they are certain of protection.

She pointed out three instances at the Ministry of Aviation, Women Development Centre and the Police Service Commission where whistle-blowers were fired.

After the bill was passed on Thursday, Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President, who presided over the day’s plenary, dedicated it to the memory of the late Adeleke who sponsored the bill but did not live to see its passage.

The bill, however, cannot become law until it is also passed by the House of Representatives and assented to by the president.