NAN-H-55
Penalty
By Maureen Okon
Abuja, May 2, 2017 (NAN) The Head of Mission of the European Union (EU) and the Ambassador of Switzerland on Tuesday, underlined the universality of human rights, including the right to life.
In a statement in Abuja, they expressed deep concern over recent reports of proposed executions in Lagos State.
They said: “death penalty is cruel, degrading and inhumane punishment”.
According to them, the execution has failed as deterrence to criminal behavior and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.
“Any miscarriage of justice-inevitable in any legal system is irreversible.
“The EU head of mission regret the execution of three Nigerians prisoners on Dec. 23, 2016 as authorised by the Edo Government, ‘’ they said.
However, they said that the EU supports the application of sentences that follow due process.
“The EU opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and calls on the State Governors as well as Nigerian authorities at Federal level to uphold the moratorium on the death penalty,” they said.
Globally, the EU said 104 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and 141 are abolitionist in practice.
The union added that Nigeria and the Gambian are the only countries in ECOWAS still executing their citizens.
The EU noted that the bloc and Switzerland are committed to strengthening the Nigerian judicial system and the promotion of rule of law and justice for Nigerian citizens.
NAN reports that on April 18, the Lagos State Government said it is set to execute the General Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, also known as Rev. King and other prison inmates on death roll.
This was disclosed by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem during a press conference in the state.
Kazeem said the state government was reviewing the cases of those on death row and will be taking a crucial decision soon.
The Commissioner disclosed that his recent visit to prisons in the state which was on the instruction of Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode, said prison officials drew his attention to the highhandedness of those on death row.
According to Kazeem, previous administration had not deemed it fit to sign documents for the execution of convicts on death row, but the Ambode administration is moving towards signing the execution document.
NAN reports that on Feb. 28, 2016, the Nigeria Prisons Service said that 1, 639 inmates were awaiting execution in various prisons across the country.
The Public Relations Officer of Prisons, Francis Emorde, said the the last time the Service carried out execution was in 2013.
He explained that the unwillingness of the state governors to sign execution orders as directed by law is the reason for the high number of death row inmates in the country.
Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), shows the number of death row inmates have increased drastically in the last four years.
Sixteen people were on death row 2007, 92 in 2008, 31 in 2009, 56 in 2010, and 72 in 2011, with the latest statement from the Prisons Service confirming that the figure has swelled to 1, 639.
In 2014, 659 death sentences were recorded, a jump of more than 500 compared with the 2013 figures, 141.
The dramatic rise in the death sentence is attributed to the mass death sentences passed on soldiers, who were convicted of mutiny in the context of the armed conflict with Boko Haram terrorists in the North, by military courts. (NAN)
ETIM/SH
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edited by Sadiya Hamza