Capital punishment by death is a legal penalty for criminals in Nigeria. Methods of execution include hanging and shooting and capital crimes include murder, terrorism-related offences, rape, robbery, sodomy and incest.
Despite executions being legal punishments in Nigeria, leaders (state Governors, national President) responsible for signing the execution after court judgement have generally shied away from it keeping such inmates in prison for life. In 2013, four prisoners on death row were hanged. Over a thousand prisoners were awaiting execution at the time.
The execution process began on the 16th of June 2013, when then President Of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, urged state Governors to fulfill their constitutional responsibility of signing death warrants of criminals condemned to death by courts. In rise of this, Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomole, was the only Governor that proceeded to enact the challenging responsibility. Oshiomole’s enactment was effectively based on Jonathan’s admonition.
In spite of pleas by the human rights community, within and outside the country, for the reduction of the death sentence on the four condemned criminals, the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, signed the death warrants to execute the Supreme Court judgement that condemned Chima Ejiofor, Daniel Nsofor, Osarenmwinda Aiguokhan and Richard Igagu to death by hanging. Armed robbery constitutes the crime committed for which most of the above mentioned criminals were sentenced to death by hanging and officially executed in 2013.
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6 comments
I don’t know when we going to have good leaders and great nigeria of our dream.
Even after the intervention of the human right community within and outside the country..sigh!!…I mean that’s highly preposterous!
I always learn something new from Olatorera.com. I wasn’t even aware when this happened!
As the former president said in the article, the job they were elected to do had both the sweet and ugly side. Pleas or no pleas from anyone, justice must be served! Even the Bible in the book of matthew26:52 says ‘’……….those who habitually draw the sword die by the sword.’’
So robery is a capital crime, that means 90% of our leaders should have been executed by now, but no, apparently rules only apply to the people below. I don’t know what crimes they committed, but I’m pretty sure the shot callers have done worse.
The fact remains, he did that for a reason, either selfish or the betterment of his community, sometimes it serves as a deterrence of such crimes reoccurring if handled properly, the truth must be told, when I hear rape cases and child molestation basically I’m perplexed at how we handle such crimes with levity, anyways no one is clean, but we must start somewhere if we really wanna head anywhere